Tomb Raider - Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel)
by FantasyandHistory
Summary: "Higher, further, faster, baby!" The pager was only for emergencies, but every so often Captain Carol Danvers will return to earth to visit her friends there. One such time when she visits Nick Fury, now Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., she meets a woman he is trying to recruit and sparks fly. And Fury will always take credit for it. (CarolXOC) (Full Summary inside!)
1. Higher, further, faster! (Introduction)

Hello and welcome to my newest Marvel story! :) Turns out, this is the perfect time to post it in honour of the release of 'Captain Marvel' in theatres and the latest 'Avengers: Endgame' trailer! :D

Here's a full summary as promised!

**"Higher, further, faster, baby!"**

**The pager was only for emergencies, but every so often Captain Carol Danvers will return to earth to visit her friends there. One such time when she visits Nick Fury, now Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., she meets a woman he is trying to recruit and sparks fly. **

**And Fury will always take credit for it. **

**This story assumes that there is a seventh Infinity Stone. (CarolXOC)**

**Takes place after 'Captain Marvel' (some spoilers ahead!) and before 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' and will connect to my other Marvel stories!**

So I've been wanting to write an love story for Carol and a female OC since before the movie came out and now that I've seen it (really good movie! I was so excited for Brie in this role!) this story is starting to take shape, and how I want to connect it to my 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame' story! :) This story will feature spoilers for 'Captain Marvel' although more references than spoilers, I think (what I mean is, this story takes place in 2014, before the events of 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' (which is my personal top favourite Marvel movie so far, but 'Black Panther' is a very close second!) sorry, got too excited there! ;D This story takes place in 2014 while the events of 'Captain Marvel' take place back in the 1990s, so while there will be some references to those events in this story, I don't think there will be any major spoilers, and this story is mostly separate).

Whew! Anyways, after that long introduction, I hope you enjoy my story in honour of Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers! :) Thanks!

Also I do not own these characters, they are owned by Disney and Marvel, I only own my character (who is very much based on the wonderful and bad-ass Lara Croft ;)) and my character's story, thanks! :)


	2. Prologue - Missing

Thank you so much for the follows and favourites on this story already! :D

Prologue ~ Missing

_London, 2003_

When her parents left in the middle of the night for business, it really wasn't all that surprising. Mr. and Mrs. Bane, Doctors of Archaeology, were constantly leaving on sudden business deals and expeditions - they were away more than they were at home, and had seen more places than anyone Nora knew.

So when she woke up the next morning to find only Mary, the woman who looked after her whenever her parents were away - 'Mary Poppins' as Nora sometimes called her - Nora wasn't all that shocked when Mary told her that her parents had left in the middle of the night on urgent business. It wasn't unusual.

What was unusual, however, was the nature of it, and for a couple of reasons. One, they had apparently gotten a call late into the night and had hastily thrown some packing together and left within half an hour of receiving the call.

And two, they hadn't said goodbye to her. Mary said it was because the call was so sudden and they didn't want to wake and disturb her, it being the middle of the night. All right, she could understand that, but at the same time, she was their daughter.

She was twelve years old now, almost thirteen, and her parents sometimes brought her along on their trips - there was a lot of moving around, it was constant upheaval. The strange part was was that the older the got, the less they brought her along, which seemed backwards to her. She could understand them leaving her at home when she was younger and her joining them as she grew older, but it was the opposite and she had no idea why.

The days passed, turning into weeks, which also wasn't unusual, for trips such as these could see the Dr. Banes gone for weeks or even months on end. Nora dismissed her original wondering about the nature of this trip, concluding that it was just another one of her parents' adventures, and carried on as before.

However, when a month had gone by without any word from either of them, she really began to wonder. Her thirteenth birthday passed, still nothing.

When three months had passed, still without any trace, men in black suits arrived at the door of the Bane's house. Apparently, they were apart of the team her parents had been working with on this job - they didn't say what that job was, or go into any further detail - when her parents had suddenly disappeared without a trace, no one could find them. They were still searching, and assured Nora that they would do everything they could to try and find them. Harry and Jenny Bane were officially reported missing.

Mary helped in any way she could, but also had a young family of her own, so she couldn't be around all the time, and was around less and less the older Nora got. The older she got, the less and less she believed her Mum and Dad would be returning.

Her parents were gone, and they had left without saying goodbye.

They had always been very work-focused people, and obviously struggled balancing work and family life. It was unintentional that they let their work take priority, but this still was the case nonetheless. This unannounced leave and disappearance, however, confirmed Nora's long-held suspicions: her own parents had chosen their work over her.

She had hated archaeology and anything to do with it ever since.

_Well, that started off on a sad note! :/ Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter, though! We'll learn more about Nora and how she's coping with her parents' disappearance in the next chapter (Carol probably won't appear for a few chapters at least)._

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	3. Eleanora 'Nora' Bane and the Curse

2 ~ Eleanora 'Nora' Bane and the Curse of Archaeology

_London, 2014_

For someone who hated the archaeological profession so much, it made it difficult when your house was basically a museum. Her parents had acquired a vast collection from their jobs and travels over the years and every piece was a painful reminder of what it all had cost her. Nora thought that judging by the amount of artifacts vs. the amount of family photographs proved her point pretty well.

It also made it difficult when it was the one thing she excelled at. Having grown up in a house full of history and with archaeologist parents, a lot of their knowledge had been passed onto her, so hate it as she may, she knew it damn well.

That was how she had picked up odd jobs over the years. She had bar-tended for a while too, but eventually quit. Now twenty-five, she hadn't gone to university, but picked up jobs assessing artifacts and cataloging at various museums and universities, bringing in some of her parents' artifacts and sharing them. In those cases, she tried to leave the item with whoever she was sharing it with, who firmly replied, "We couldn't possibly take away that precious artifact from you." It could mean less to her, honestly.

She was currently in the process of packing away all that stuff and figuring out where to donate it, maybe even moving altogether - it was just her now, so a flat would be just fine, she didn't need the whole house.

However, assessing and cataloging and packing away everything turned out to be a lengthy and frustrating process, and one that was taking much, much longer than she'd hoped. Part of her wanted to load it onto a truck and dump it at the museum and let them handle it. London had enough museums, she was sure someone would want this stuff and would gladly take it off her hands. She'd begun packing it away, but hadn't gotten rid of any of it yet.

There had been no update on the Bane disappearance case, and Nora often wondered if, true to their word, the men in black suits really had done 'all they could' to search for her parents. But it had been eleven years with nothing having turned up, and that was pretty self-explanatory.

She had inquired countless times over the years, but had never gotten very far. No one seemed to know anything about her parents. They seemed to have simply vanished into thin air, leaving behind their daughter and all of their beloved artifacts.

She hated all this stuff.

She hated it all.

She hated her parents for leaving her to deal with it all.

She hated them for leaving her, period.

All this crap had been sitting around for thousands of years while her family had barely lasted twelve.

Their office she'd barely touched, barely set foot in. One, it was an even more daunting case than the rest of the house, stuffed to the brim full of papers and books and boxes, and two, it felt even closer. She hadn't always been allowed inside, and always had to knock, but that was where Harry and Jenny had done most of their work from home, and so it felt all the more close to their loss.

After returning home from the gym, setting foot inside the house with stuff lying scattered everywhere, a blatant reminder of all the work she had to do and had been putting off and succeeding in doing so for years, Nora instead collapsed onto the couch with something to eat and watched reruns of _Doctor Who_.

She had always loved the pure other-worldliness of the show, whether on another planet, or even on Earth, right in London even. However, with the events of the last years, maybe it wasn't all so fictional, not even that far away.

Just last year, Thor was here, right here in London, the Norse God of Thunder, lighting the place up and swinging his hammer around. Harry and Jenny would've loved it.

But Gods in London? It seemed crazy. Almost as unbelievable as her parents' disappearance.

After re-watching three episodes, cleaning up the dishes, and having a shower - it was like avoiding homework, she would literally rather do anything else - she finally got down to work. She would feel accomplished in what she managed to do in a couple of hours, however, one look at the masses of other similar items would remind her that she was nowhere near to being finished or freed of this burden her parents had left her. As if getting rid of it all would suddenly solve everything.

All of this stuff was dusty, old, and boring. Her parents had kept it all in pristine condition, but their absence over the last eleven years had caused that condition to downgrade considerably. If they knew how she had neglected it all, they would be very disappointed.

But it wasn't hers, it was theirs. _Like you neglected me. _

They would be as disappointed as the time she'd accidentally bumped their favourite piece, an ugly old vase, and it had smashed to the floor. She could still hear them yelling at her for what had been an accident, until they finally realized she herself was hurt, having cut herself on a piece of the broken glass.

She shook her head, ridding herself temporarily of that bad memory. Stupid vase. She hated it the most.

Mary called, asking if Nora would be around that evening as she wanted to stop by. "You know where to find me," Nora told her. "Lost amongst the treasure trove."

The thing was, when she had been younger, before her parents' disappearance, she had been quite interested in all this stuff, so she actually knew quite a lot, that, and being surrounded by it all the time and two passionate archaeologist parents who were happy to engage anyone in conversation about it. However, a lot of this stuff was new to her. She hadn't been allowed near many of the artifacts unless with careful supervision, or her parents themselves were showing her (especially not after the whole broken vase incident). Some of it - okay, she admitted, most of it - left her curious, but then she remembered what it meant and what she was doing. _Don't get attached. You'll only turn out like them._ Collectors of a vast amount of old crap that held little-to-no value and had ultimately consumed their life.

When Mary arrived, Nora was dusty, frustrated, and stiff from precisely examining each and every item and every page of notes, trying to match each stack of notes to their respective object. Luckily, for the most part, her parents had been pretty organized in their cataloging and note-taking.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Mary said.

"Nope. Actually, I'm glad you interrupted."

Mary sighed when she saw she had caught her in the middle of her work. "At it again? Still packing it all away."

"Yup. It's a hell of a process. Could use a hand."

Again, Mary sighed. "I'm sorry, Nora. But I can't do that to Harry and Jenny's work."

Nora shrugged. Always the same reply. "That's okay. I'll do it then."

"Nora, what if they come back?" Mary's gaze burned into her. _What if they come back to find that you've given away their life's work. They'll be devastated. _

Now it was Nora's turn to sigh. "You still think they're coming back? Mary, it's been eleven years. They're _not _coming back. And even if they did, they can spend the whole rest of their lives tracking it all down again, that's what they loved to do, anyway. And then I won't be in their way."

Mary scoffed. "You still think they didn't care for you? Love you?"

"They vanished into the night without a trace, without even bothering to say goodbye to their child. I mean, for all we know they could've found El Dorado and are now living in splendor in a city of gold. Tell me they care."

The two women stood staring each other down, each holding their side of the argument equally firmly. Finally, Nora sighed and rubbed a hand over her face. "I just need to get all this stuff out."

"Or, maybe, you need to get away from all this stuff," Mary offered alternatively. "Go traveling Nora. Your parents left you some money, and you've been saving. Go, get out of London, get a change of scenery. I think it would do you some good."

Nora shrugged. "Maybe..."

"The sooner you stop believing that they left to rid themselves of you, the better." Her words hurt, but it was nothing Nora hadn't considered before.

_There's the first official chapter! :) Hope you all are enjoying so far! I'm in the process of adding Nora into my 'Infinity War/Endgame' story - I keep getting so many ideas!_

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) And thank you so much for all the follows and favourites! :) you all are amazing!_


	4. Deals and Forgery

3 ~ Deals and Forgery

_Museum of Great Britain - London _

"So, it's authentic?"

"As authentic as it gets, Mate."

"Wow - fascinating..." Randy breathed, already large eyes even wider behind his glasses as he examined the artifact, the hilt of a Crusader sword, broken off from the blade.

"Yeah," Nora droned with a roll of her eyes. The way he gushed over it was more painful than annoying as it reminded her of her parents.

Randy was a new intern at the museum she most frequently visited to display pieces from her parents' collection.

"And they found this? Your parents?"

"Uh huh."

"Wow, that's, that's awesome!" He beamed. "Your parents are big names here."

"Uh huh. Tell me about it..."

"And what about this?" He carefully set the sword hilt aside and gestured to the other item she had brought along as well.

"I was hoping you might be able to help me with that, actually. I don't know what it is, and I can't find any record of it in my parents' notes, and they kept detailed notes of everything."

"Hmm..." he examined it closer. The item was a long, thin cylinder, both ends cracked, making it look like a short wooden spike, and was about the length and width of a paper towel roll. The surface was rough.

"Huh, it almost looks like it was broken off of something," Randy observed.

"Yeah, on both sides," Nora noted.

"Yeah. And it almost appears to have some sort of writing or markings carved into it, see?" She nodded. "But I'm not sure what it is, I've never come across anything like this in my studies."

"Vampire spike?" she joked.

He chuckled. "Maybe."

"Well you can keep examining it, if you like. As well as the sword hilt."

His eyes widened like a child in a candy shop. "_Really_?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, keep them. I have no use for them."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, they'll only sit collecting dust at home."

His expression gave off the impression that he had just won a million pounds. "Okay, thank you! That's brilliant!"

"Don't mention it, Mate. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Nora! Thanks again!"

"Yeah-" She gathered her bag and was just leaving the room when someone came through the door from the other side and they almost crashed.

"Oh, Nora, hi!" Lizzie beamed at her once they had skidded to a stop.

"Oh, hey Lizzie." Lizzie was in charge of the internship program and often tried to recruit Nora. Nora would, in return, remind her of her lack of university degree, and Lizzie would reply by saying that they could work around that. However, Nora didn't like the idea of them making exceptions for her.

"Bringing in more artifacts?" Lizzie asked, going over to the table to join Randy.

"Yeah! One of which is the hilt of a Crusader sword!" gushed Randy.

"Yeah, just some, just some stuff," Nora replied, cursing herself for her embarrassing stuttering. She would be lying if she said she hadn't developed a slight crush on Lizzie and admittedly, maybe, _maybe_, sometimes brought items in just so she could impress her with her knowledge. She loved the way the young woman's eyes lit up when examining an artifact, like Randy, who Nora was sure also had a crush on the other woman.

"This is amazing!" Lizzie cried, her obvious excitement making Nora smile. "These items are so rare, so unique! Your parents were so lucky to find them."

"And, she's letting us keep them!" Randy told her.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Really?" Now she looked to Nora who shrugged.

"They're just sitting around the house collecting dust. They'll do the same here, but at least they'll have more of a purpose."

"Oh Nora, thank you so much!" Lizzie came over and threw her arms around her. "What can we do to repay you?"

"Oh, don't be silly, it's nothing, really." Nora hugged her back.

"Well it's not nothing to us. Can we at least buy you a drink and dinner, or something?" Lizzie pressed. "You really have no idea how much this stuff means to us."

_No, you're right, I don't... _"Yeah, but I know what it's like, with my parents. How excited they got about all this stuff. It's fine, really. Thank you, though, for the offer." _Though that actually sounds really nice... _

"Well, thank you, so much. And I know I mention it every time, but it's part of the job: we do have an internship program..."

Nora chuckled. "I knew you'd ask again."

"It's really great," put in Randy.

Nora nodded. "I'll think about it."

"Well, that's a step further than we got last time, so I say that's successful." Lizzie smiled. "Thanks again, Nora."

"Yeah, anytime. Thanks." With that, she left.

Out in the hall, she paused. Having long ago built a wall between her and her parents' profession, which had strengthened over the years, she sometimes wondered if she was throwing away big chances and opportunities because she so stubbornly kept that wall up, and if in doing so she was holding herself back.

She didn't let herself ponder it for long.

* * *

Forgery was tedious work, and extremely time-consuming, but Nora would be lying if she didn't feel a little bit of an excited buzz and a little swell of pride when she completed a project.

She examined sixteenth century coins, very likely pirates' gold, a few of which she had made herself, and the others which where authentic. She could only tell the difference because she had made them and knew that they weren't the real thing. _Not bad, Bane. _

Her parents and Mary would be appalled if they knew what she was doing, and she guessed that if Lizzie found out that internship offer would be gone. Lizzie's line about all these artifacts being 'rare and unique' flooded her thoughts.

But people would pay good money for stuff like this, as she had discovered, and it wasn't even the real thing! Sure, it was a bit of a sketchy way to earn money, but...

Her phone buzzed. An unknown number sending a short text message, with a location and time. That was it.

With the forged coins all finished, she gathered them, packing them up and left the house. She had a rendezvous and an exchange to make.

_Wow, thank you all so much for the 1000+ reads already, and all the reviews, follows, and favourites! :D that's amazing, I just started this story!_

_Obviously, Nora's forging efforts are going to backfire... But that won't be until a little later._

_One month until 'Endgame'! Can't wait to see Carol in action again! ;)_

_As always, thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))_


	5. What Was Left Behind

4 ~ What Was Left Behind

Nora had seen _Indiana Jones_ (her mum had always had a huge crush on young Harrison Ford) and had played _Tomb Raider _(she herself preferred Lara Croft), she knew how it always went: someone, usually some ominous force was always hunting for the same 'treasure' as the hero, and there usually ended up being some sort of mystical/magical object or force involved.

But she had always accepted it as something that only happened in the movies and games and on television, not in real life. Archaeology wasn't really like that. Like with _Doctor Who_, there were the fantastical elements, but it was all set in the real world, grounded in reality. But also as she had discovered with _Doctor Who,_ all that stuff was a lot closer than she thought.

Today she was tackling the office. And she was not looking forward to it.

That morning she had training scheduled at the gym. Afterwards she came home, made something to eat, and had a shower, dragging out the process as if it would make the cleaning up of the office go away. It did not, however, and if anything it only made her more reluctant.

The office door made the same old creaking sound when she opened it. She immediately opened the window and turned on the lights, trying to brighten the stuffy place that was jammed full of papers, boxes, books, and of course, more artifacts. Naturally. That was a given.

Where the hell should she start? She felt overwhelmed already.

"Bloody hell," she sighed, and dove in.

She grabbed the nearest box - nearly dropping it as it turned out to be much heavier than anticipated - and plopped down to sit on the rug (which had come from India) and began rifling through the box.

Did she even need to look at all these papers and notes? Could she just throw them out? It's not like they were being used for anything anymore. But she felt a twinge of guilt at tossing away all of her parents' hard work. But also, what good was it all doing cluttering up the office?

Putting some music on in the background helped make the task seem less dull and more manageable.

Her curious side got the better of her, and what could have and should have been a quick job became a very long one as she examined each and every scrap of paper and every sentence, word, and marking written on them. Most were stapled together, notes on various artifacts, their history, alleged location, stories about them, but there were a lot of single and incomplete sheets as well. Nora recognized a lot of the artifacts as ones still sitting here in the house, some in this very room, as if waiting for her parents to return. _You and me both. _Though they were waiting more patiently than she was.

She decided to do a section of the room at a time, breaking down the task into more manageable pieces. The desk seemed like the least big piece, that was, until she opened the drawers. God, her parents kept everything.

Like the rest of the room, the desk drawers were stuffed just as full, so full she had trouble opening some of them. She took to just pulling everything out and tossing it on the floor. She even went as far as pulling one of the drawers out completely and dumping out its contents.

Now there were papers everywhere, and that still wasn't the last of them. Muttering to herself, she continued with the unloading of the desk.

This carried on until she realized just how big of a pile of papers had amassed on the rug, and she decided to sort through those before adding any more.

She was moving to the other side of the pile to sit when she stood on some of the pages and slipped. Cursing, she just managed to catch her balance, although her actions shifted the rug and drew up one of the corners.

Now moving to re-adjust the rug, she tugged it back in place, lifting one end to drag it over. And when she did she found something.

A file folder sat just off centre beneath the rug. It was like the countless others she had found in here, but what was it doing under the rug of all places? Why was this one separate from the others? And why was it hidden?

Her curiosity spiked - must be important and/or exciting if it were hidden and oh-so strategically placed.

Going over she scooped it up, sliding it, and a bunch of dust, out from its hiding place. It was thin, not much inside it.

Opening it she found a sheet of paper. At the top was a black stamp, a symbol and title.

_S.H.I.E.L.D._

An instant memory suddenly resurfacing struck her like an electric shock - the men in black suits who had come to break the news of her parents' disappearance, this very symbol - an eagle - had been on their badges. She had forgotten that detail until just now, the stamp jogging her memory of it. Her heart had begun to thunder in her chest. She read further.

The page was titled _Project M.A.R.C.H. _Beneath the acronym in fine print read: _Mythical Antiquities Research and Care Headquarters. _

It appeared to be some sort of vague assignment outline, but her parents seemed to be heading the project. She read their names a ways down on the page.

Behind the page, she found a couple of ID cards paper-clipped to the back of the folder. They were for her parents, one for each of them, and had the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo and title on them as well. TEMPORARY was marked across the back of both cards.

Jumping up and going back over to the desk, bringing the file with her, she fired up the computer. She opened an internet search tab and punched in S.H.I.E.L.D.

_S.H.I.E.L.D. Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division._

_World intelligence and law enforcement agency. _

_Founded: 1946. Howard Stark, Peggy Carter, Colonel Chester Philips._

_Based In: Washington, D.C._

Nora cast a glance over at the ID cards. "What were you guys doing?" she voiced aloud.

She sat there for a few minutes, she didn't know how long, just looking back and forth between the ID cards and the web-page. Next time her eyes fell on the screen, they settled on the location: Washington, D.C.

She had a lead. Suddenly, after eleven years of nothing, things were beginning to piece together.

She picked up the ID cards. Time to put her forging skills to work.

* * *

"Mary, hi," she said into the phone, all while throwing some clothes into a suitcase. She had just completed booking a flight only minutes before. "I'm doing it, I'm taking your advice and going on a little trip. Not sure how long I'll be gone, but a few days at least."

_"Oh, Nora. That sounds wonderful. Are you going with anyone?"_

"No, no, just me."

_"Well that's good, I'm proud of you. Where is it you're going?"_

"Washington D.C."

_It's all starting to connect! ;) Hope you all are enjoying, thanks so much for reading! :)_


	6. Amy Locke, Agent of SHIELD

5 ~ Amy Locke, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Upon arriving in Washington D.C., Nora gave herself a day to battle jet-lag and explore the area she was staying in, but then it was time to get down to work.

Forging the ID badge had been easy - she had scanned her mother's badge, changed a few of the details, and inserted a photo of herself and _voila!_ \- but sneaking into the headquarters building would be very much something else.

She dressed in the most professional clothes she owned: a black blazer over a white button-up shirt, dark jeans, tall boots. And sunglasses. Secret agents always wore sunglasses.

Pinning on the fake badge she was suddenly Agent Amy Locke of S.H.I.E.L.D., and was ready to go. _This is Agent Locke reporting for duty!_

Yes, her plan was not fool-proof, but it was the best she had right now with the sudden lead on her parents. She had to give it a try.

Arriving at the Triskelion, the round, cylindrical building loomed over her. She wondered how many secrets it held. There was only one way to find out-

She took her first steps inside.

She was greeted by various professionally-dressed people on their way to work, and a giant version of the agency's eagle symbol on a sign in the lobby. She was definitely in the right place. Now she just had to find the right section.

Heading over to the elevator, she read the directory: _Records and Archives, Basement._ Brilliant. That seemed like the most logical place to start.

More people were also waiting for the elevator, so when the doors opened, it ended up being fairly crowded in there.

"What floor?" the suited man standing closest to the buttons asked her.

"Basement, please. Thank you." Which meant that she would probably be getting off last.

The elevator was incredibly smooth and quiet as it carried the passengers to their awaited destinations. She stared at the floor, not wanting to draw unwanted attention.

On the next floor stop, most people got out, and a blonde woman got on. She smiled at Nora, coming to stand next to her. "Hey, Liv. How are you? Nice hair, when did you dye it?"

Nora could only stare blinking back. "I-I'm sorry?"

"Oh-" The woman looked startled and taken aback. "I'm sorry. You just look so much like a friend of mine who works here. So much like her..."

"Oh, that's all right. Happens."

"Yeah..." The woman continued staring but quickly caught herself and looked away. Her ID badge read, _Carter, Sharon._

At last, it was Nora's turn to get off. She and the woman, Sharon, exchanged and friendly but slightly-awkward smile, and Nora stepped off the elevator, exhaling a heavy breath.

It definitely felt like a basement down here, fluorescent lights, concrete walls. Archives and Records wasn't the only section located down here, so she had to do a bit of wandering. Luckily, the building was circular, so if you got lost you just had to keep going around and eventually you would end up back where you started, for the most part.

Finally she found it, pushing the glass door open. A woman sat at a desk in a small entrance hall with a large set of double glass doors leading to what Nora guessed was the room where the actual records were stored.

Nora had been kind of waiting for a moment to proudly flash her fake badge. _Yes, yes I am a secret agent here at this secret intelligence agency, see, I've got a badge. And sunglasses._

The woman at the desk glanced up at her and offered a smile. Then she pressed a button, which turned out to be for buzzing Nora in. The loud buzz startled her.

"Thanks," she said, and opened the double doors, entering the room.

She was in! She was in - oh, God...

The room which she entered wasn't really a room, more of a warehouse, filled with row after row after row of huge, tall shelves full of boxes, full of every record since the agency's establishment in 1946, she guessed, judging by how much there was here.

Well, she'd made it this far. Time to continue the journey.

She had no idea where to start, or what she intended to find, and already felt overwhelmed. She forced her feet forward though, boots clicking against the concrete floor, weaving between the long, tall shelves.

She went to the B's first, figuring that checking up on her last name would be a good place to start. She did not envy whoever had the job of organizing all this. She got frustrated just trying to organize her parents' collection, let alone all this.

Time to dive in.

She continued walking until she reached the large, very large, B section. She walked along the shelf, trailing her fingertips across the filing boxes' surfaces. B. BA.

She slid the box from it's place, straining under its weight - no wonder there were so many boxes with the same labels if this was how heavy one was. Setting it down on the floor and crouching beside it, she opened it up and searched through. Nope, nothing. Too early in the alphabet.

Placing the lid back on top and picking up the box she lifted it back into its place, taking down the next one, equally heavy. Yikes, when she got back home she would have to tell her trainer that they needed to work on her arms more.

She did the same with the second box, and began rifling through the perfectly-organized files._Backup... Banner..._

Her heart leapt, but then realized that while it was a 'Ban' in 'Banner' there was no 'Bane', meaning there was no file. She continued looking, trying to see if maybe (unlikely) someone had put the file out of place by accident.

_Barton... Battle of New York..._

Nothing_._

She absorbed this. So there wasn't any file on her parents themselves. But what about the project they were working under. Project M.A.R.C.H...

She returned the box and began speed-walking down the long aisles to the M's.

While this search turned up some interesting results as well - Mandarin, Mjolnir, Mystic Arts - nothing on specifically Project M.A.R.C.H. P's for project then? If nothing turned up there, she didn't know where she would go from there. Perhaps she could ask someone - they probably had an online database. But that could blow her cover.

Arriving at the P's, she hurriedly started digging. S.H.I.E.L.D. sure had a hell of a lot of 'Projects'.

Her eyes scanning down the list suddenly landed on one, bringing into focus the name: M.A.R.C.H. Project M.A.R.C.H.

Ha ha, there it was! Grinning now she withdrew the file, which was thin like the one she had found back home, but not as thin. She was about to open it when she stopped, realizing what she was doing, what this meant.

This file could hold the answers to what had happened to her parents. Was she prepared for that? It had been so long with nothing, and now suddenly she had something.

It was now or never.

* * *

Before heading to her own station, Sharon knocked on the Director's office door. "Excuse me, Director Fury? Do you have a moment?"

Fury looked up from his desk and nodded, appearing concerned when she shut the office door behind her. "Agent, is everything all right?"

"I had a strange encounter in the elevator this morning."

"Strange how?"

"There was a woman also in the elevator, English with darker hair. But other than that she looked exactly like Agent Sword. I thought she was Liv, I even said hi to her, but it turned out she wasn't her."

Fury absorbed this. "Was she an agent?"

"Yes, she had a badge."

"Name?"

"Amy Locke."

"I think we would know if we had two nearly-identical agents working for us, or it certainly would have come up. Where was she headed?"

"She got off at the basement."

"Hmm. Either garage or records." Sharon nodded. "We'll call down there and see if anyone saw a woman matching her description. I'll run her name through our lists and see if it turns up."

Sure enough, upon calling down to records, the woman at the front desk confirmed that an agent matching Sharon's description had gone into the records room. And there was no 'Amy Locke' registered with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fury pressed a button on the phone. "Hill?"

_"Yes, Nick?_" she responded over the radio.

"I need you to head downstairs to records. I think we may have an impostor."

_Duh, duh, duh! ;) A little suspense! So I don't think Carol and Nora will meet for a couple/few chapters still, but I'm thinking Carol will appear in the next one :) Yay!_

_Thank you so much for reading and as always I hope you enjoyed!_

_Also, I'm finished school now, so I should be able to update my stories more regularly :)_


	7. Real-life Superheroes

6 ~ Real-life Superheroes

Nora sat there on the cold concrete floor of the records room holding the file in her lap, internally debating whether or not to open it.

Did she really want to know?

_Oh, come on, Eleanora. Just open the damn folder._

Inside there was multiple pages of symbols, intricate, swirling symbols that she had never seen before. What the hell?

Perhaps they were glyphs of some sort, a different alphabet or writing system. But the elegant swirls were unlike anything alphabet or glyphs she had ever come across.

There was no translation, just more pages covered in the same sequence of symbols. There were so many of them, drawn so tightly together it made her dizzy, the same pattern over and over again.

However, although the writing was different, that was unmistakably her mother's handwriting._ What does all this mean, Mum?_

It had been so long since she'd used 'Mum' and 'Dad', instead referring to them by 'them' or their names.

Removing those pages she found a photograph of a stone with runes carved into it, the runes matching the symbols on the page. They were runes. Still unlike any she had come across.

A charcoal rubbing had been done, most likely of the same rock, but for some reason only half the runes had been drawn, leaving them incomplete.

Again the question resurfaced in her mind: _what were you doing?_

She took out her phone and began snapping pictures of the pages and photos.

So focused, she jumped and cried out slightly when she heard the doors to the room open, followed by echoing footsteps against the concrete.

_Shit_. Someone else was in here. She would rather avoid any further interaction.

Jumping up from the floor where she had spread the contents of the file in an arrangement and scooping up the box and its contents, she madly began stuffing it all back, as neatly as her new panicked state allowed, all while the footsteps drew closer.

"Hey!"

She jumped, stumbling and cursing. An agent in a black leather jacket and her hair in a bun stood there, arms crossed.

"Hand over the file," the woman ordered, one hand falling to rest on the handgun at her belt, clearly signalling that Nora shouldn't try anything. "And hands up. I need you to come with me."

* * *

"Bollocks." Now she sat in someone's office on one of the top floors of the facility, which proved to have a great panoramic view of the city. It felt like she was in school again, dragged to the headmaster's office for something she'd done.

Well that had been a complete failure, and she'd barely gotten any answers on her parents. Just a bunch of random runes that meant nothing.

"So, Agent Amy Locke, huh?"

A man entered the office. He was tall, wearing all black including a long coat and an eye-patch over his left eye. He came and sat down at the desk. "I take it that's not really your name, is it?" He sat down at his desk. "I'll tell you my name: Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Yup, you got yourself in so much trouble they brought you right to the top." He tossed her fake ID badge onto the desk. The agent who'd caught her had made her hand it over right after being caught. "I gotta say, I'm impressed by this. It's pretty authentic looking."

"Thanks, made it myself." She gave a stiff smile.

"Well, you got talent. Miss? Mrs.?"

"Ms.," she corrected. "Ms. Bane."

"Ah, same name as the people who're in the file you were looking at." He held up said file. "What's the connection?"

"They're my parents."

"It says they're doctors?"

"Doctors of Archaeology, Harold and Jennifer Bane, based out of London, England."

He scanned the file. "Huh, this is a cold case." He continued to scan the document, his eyebrows furrowed, she noticed. "Huh, they had pretty high-level clearance for temporary employees. Not even employees, really, partners. They must have been dealing with some pretty important stuff."

"You didn't know them?"

"Not personally, no. I would have liked to, though. They sound like they were doing some pretty neat stuff."

"I wouldn't know. I barely got to read the file."

He looked back up at her. "Let me guess: You forged your ID in order to get in here to try and find some answers?"

"Well done, Mr. Fury. You know how to read someone."

"Director Fury. And it's a skill needed for this kind of work." He paused, his eyes - well, eye - never leaving her. "So what happened? What are you looking for answers to?"

She sighed. "Eleven years ago, they left for a job and never came back. I found S.H.I.E.L.D. badges in their office and figured this would be a good place to start."

"Eleven years, huh?" She nodded. "You got any siblings, Ms. Bane?" He put extra emphasis on the 'Ms.'

She shook her head. "No. Why?"

"Just curious. So you're an only child huh? God, that must have been tough."

"Huh, yeah, tell me about it."

He sighed, closing up the file. "Well, I'm afraid I don't personally have any further knowledge of this case, but we could keep digging. But you'll have to leave it to the actual agents, with actual clearance. I can't promise anything, though."

"That's okay, people who make promises rarely keep them, anyways."

"I'm gonna let you go, but not without a warning. And I will be starting a special S.H.I.E.L.D. file just for you, Ms. Bane."

She stood, and he walked her to the office door. "What happened to your eye?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Aliens clawed it out."

"Right, okay. Cool story."

"You gonna be in D.C. for long?" he asked.

"This was really my only reason for coming here."

"Well, if you've got some time, may I recommend the Captain America tribute exhibition at the Smithsonian."

* * *

Her first thought upon seeing the grand museum was, _Mum and Dad would love this. So would Lizzie. And Randy._

"One adult ticket for the Captain America exhibit, please."

Ticket in hand, she entered the exhibit, full of red, white, and blue glory, all in honour of the super-soldier World War II hero.

There was information on Peggy Carter, founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., fellow English woman. Nora gave her picture a little salute.

"Pretty fascinating, isn't it?" She turned to see one of the security guards, an elderly man with a white hair and a moustache, and glasses. "Real-life superheroes?"

"Yes, it is," she agreed. "Never would have thought."

"Amazing. Pretty exciting, too."

She couldn't help but smile a little at his obvious excitement. "Yes, yes it is."

* * *

After that exciting morning, after lunch Fury sat down at his desk to go over some paperwork.

He didn't get very far before he was interrupted.

_Knock. Knock._

"Come in." Fury didn't look up from his papers.

"Hmm, pretty swanky office you've got here - _Director_ Fury."

Fury's head snapped up at the familiar voice he hadn't heard in ages, years, to be met by an equally familiar smirking blonde leaning against the door frame, arms crossed.

"Well I'll be damned. Look who decided to fly by." He rose to his feet, paperwork now forgotten.

"Careful, old man," Carol joked. "Don't get up too quick, now."

"'Old'? You say that every time."

"Cause it's true."

"Unlike you, people usually age."

"I guess the space atmosphere does wonders for one's skin. And one's hair."

"Guess so. How've you been, Marvel?"

Carol rolled her eyes. "Mar-Vell, two words, remember? And I can't complain. It's been busy, but now I have a bit of a break. You?"

"Busy too, but no break in sight yet. So, were you just in the area? In this galaxy? Just passing through solar systems?"

Carol chuckled then shrugged. "Sometimes I miss Earth and this seemingly mundane world. I'm free to roam until the galaxy needs me again."

"Knowing our luck, that'll probably be pretty soon."

Carol smirked. "Oh, I don't know. I seem to be keeping things under control up there. Mostly."

"Good to hear. Glad you stopped by to say hi to an old friend, Captain."

"Always, Director."

_Whew, lots happened in that chapter! But Carol's finally here (yay!) which means her and Nora will be meeting very soon! :D And yes, that is Stan Lee as the security guard ;) (R.I.P.)_

_Thank you so much for showing your support for this story (reads, reviews, favourites and follows! :D) and I hope you enjoyed!_


	8. Making a Habit Out of This

7 ~ Making a Habit Out of This

After her failed attempt at the Triskelion, Nora only had a few days more in Washington D.C., so pretty soon she was back home in London, with little progress or success in her search. She spent hours trying to find anything that may help her with the glyphs from the file she had taken photos of, but could find nothing in the deep abyss that was the internet. As far as she could tell, such glyphs as the ones her mother had drawn didn't exist.

Only they must, somehow, somewhere, for Jenny to have drawn them. They must mean something. Nora really wished she could ask her parents.

She found that if she stared at the symbols for too long, they would start to swirl together before her eyes and make her dizzy. It happened more than once and so she gave up and took a break.

On perhaps a brighter note, she had another forging job in place. Another anonymous order had come through - seemed like her forged coins were in high demand. Another rendezvous was set.

She took the Underground and got off near Trafalgar Square. It was dark by now. She reached the meeting place exactly on time. She waited.

Hearing footsteps approaching she turned and saw a tall young man walking towards her, hands shoved in the pockets of his baggy jacket. He joined her standing on the dark curb.

"You're late. Not a very reliable business partner," she half-joked.

He ignored her comment. "Have them?" She nodded. He reached out a gloved hand. "Hand them over, then."

"Not until I see the money, Mate. Just so I know this is serious."

Surprisingly, the guy didn't argue. He reached into his jacket - he could be reaching for a weapon for all she knew. It suddenly dawned on her just how dangerous this line of work potentially was.

She was under no threat, however, as the guy pulled out a fat roll of cash.

"All right, then-" She produced her side of the deal, chuckling to herself about whoever was paying that price for these very fake coins.

They were in the middle of the exchange when sudden lights blinded them both, as did the squealing of car tires. Two police officers jumped out from the undercover car. "Hey, what's going on here?"

There was a moment's pause before the guy took off - with both her coins and the money in hand.

"Oi - HEY!" Ignoring the police, Nora took off after him, cursing his longs legs and her short ones. She could hear the officers yelling after them, but kept running.

The guy ducked into an alleyway, scaling a fence that divided it up ahead. Nora very ungracefully managed to get over the fence in pursuit, though stumbled while climbing back down as she slipped in a puddle from an earlier rainfall, landing hard on her knee and letting out a string of curses.

The thief was way ahead now, but she kept running. She was really out of shape - guess all those gym visits weren't accomplishing as much as she thought they had. Well, now she knew what she had to work on.

Sirens wailed, and seemed to be getting closer, but all Nora could focus on was the chase. Finally, she found the guy again and pushed herself forward.

Both chasers skidded to a stop when two police cars screeched it's way around the corner in front of them.

Officers emerged from the cars. "Hands up!"

"Oh bloody hell-"

* * *

Bollocks again. Double bollocks. Her luck seemed to be running out this week.

This time she was taken by police car to the station. The money and the coins, both real and fake, had been confiscated.

The police captain who sat across the table from her in the interrogation room was inspecting the coins with a magnifying glass. "Well, these sure are detailed, I'll give you that. I'm no expert on old coins, but these look pretty authentic to me. But you were still breaking the law, in two ways. When we got a tip about suspicious behaviour in the area, we thought it was a drug deal, not old-world treasures."

"Can I at least have my money?"

"The money you were illegally obtaining? Sorry, no-can-do. But you can have your coins back."

She huffed.

There came a knock at the door. "Come in," called the captain.

"Excuse me, Captain-" Another officer peeked her head in. "Someone's here to see you, about the woman." She nodded to Nora.

"Now?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Fine." Sighing, he stood. "Keep an eye on her until I get back."

"Yes, Sir."

Nora sank lower in her chair, trying to avoid eye-contact with the officer.

The captain came back a few minutes later, looking slightly confused. He had something in his hand.

Then it was her turn to look confused - that was her fake S.H.I.E.L.D. ID badge.

"Agent Locke - I'm very sorry, there's been a misunderstanding," the captain said. She just stared back. "We weren't aware that someone was already working to shut down the street-deals, nor did I realize that you were an undercover agent. Thank you for your assistance and your services." He handed back her badge. "You're free to go. Thank you again, Agent." He held his hand out.

Nora shook it and flashed him her best shit-eating grin. "Just doing my job, _Sir_."

He walked her back to the lobby where Agent Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D. was waiting. Nora hadn't the faintest idea what the hell was going on, but just went with it.

"Good work, Agent Locke," Hill said.

"Yes, you've got a talented woman working with you," the captain agreed.

"All right, what the hell was that?" Nora cried as soon as they were out of the police station, Hill leading the way. "And what on Earth are you doing in London?"

"Shh. Save it for the car," said the agent.

"What?"

Hill motioned for Nora to follow her down a couple of blocks where a sleek car was waiting. Hill got in the passenger seat while Nora got in the back.

"Well, well, if it isn't Agent Amy Locke. You're starting to make a habit out of this. I hear you've just had a successful mission."

"Agent Fury?" she cried. He just grinned at her through the rear-view mirror. "Are you kidnapping me?"

"Hell no. We are keeping a close eye on you, though." She raised her eyebrows. "What? Didn't think we were keeping tabs on you?"

"I figured you'd forget me pretty quick."

"No chance." He pulled the car away from the curb and onto the main road. "You're a busy woman: forgeries, break-ins... What else you got up your sleeve?"

"What's going on?"

"Well, apart from just saving your busted ass from the cops, you forge a S.H.I.E.L.D. ID badge and make it inside our HQ building all the way to records - we're gonna want to keep a close eye on you."

"Is that why you're here then?"

"We have our eyes and ears everywhere. When we heard of a black-market deal gone awry, a young woman matching your description involved, we made the connection. Also, we found this - wanted to deliver it personally."

Hill passed her a note. "What is it?"

"It's a record number, like a call number at a library. It's for a file, one under the name of 'Bane.'"

Her head shot up. "Mum and Dad?" He nodded. "So, you mean there is a file?" Another nod. "So someone stole it from your records?"

"That, or it never got there in the first place. Sounds like your parents got themselves into some real deep shit while they were working for us. We're willing to help you. Think about it, and contact us."

"How should I contact you?"

"There's a phone number on the back."

With that, they drove her home. Upon arriving she promptly went to bed, exhausted after that total whirlwind of a day.

She drifted off with swirling patterns of undecipherable symbols swimming around in her head.

_Next chapter, things start to pick up! And I'm pretty certain that Carol and Nora will meet not in the next chapter, but the one after next! :)_

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	9. Strange Magic

8 ~ Strange Magic

Sometime around 2 a.m., Nora was jolted awake by a searing pain slicing through her body. She had barely slept, spending the night tossing and turning, much too hot, kicking the blankets off. And now suddenly she was in agony, and with no idea why.

It felt like her veins were burning, like she had swallowed liquid fire and it was now coursing through her body in sharp waves - there was no other way to explain it. The way she was feeling she thought she might burst into flame from within.

Disoriented, she managed to get out of bed and stumble her way messily to the bathroom. Was that really her making those agonized crying noises? Her throat burned too, but from screaming, not from whatever was going on with the rest of her body.

She groped around along the wall to find the light switch for the bathroom. When she finally managed to flick the light on, she screamed again, though this time out of shock.

Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, only they were bright fuchsia, and her whole body was giving off a deep glow of the same colour. The veins under her skin were glowing, and she could see them zig-zagging their way through her arms and neck, as if her very insides were glowing.

What the actual hell?

She didn't have long to take this in though, or ponder it, for another burst of burning pain shot through her body, this one so strong she collapsed to her knees. She was left there trembling on the floor, helpless.

The pain flooded through her, up to the back of her neck where it seemed to swell, making her head feel as though it were about to explode.

Her own screams were the last thing she heard before blacking out.

* * *

When she opened her eyes again, however long after, they were once again met by bright, at first blinding, light, though this kind different - fluorescent, the kind that screamed 'hospital!'

Her eyes shot open and took in the room she was lying in. Definitely a hospital room.

Her throat felt raw, as though she had spent the night before screaming her heart out at a concert, and not in severe trauma alone in her house.

"Hello there-" She jumped at the sudden voice, and turned to see an equally startled nurse - every slight movement made her entire body hurt, and it was already aching, a steady, distant throb. "It's all right, Love, you're all right now. Don't worry. My name is Linda, and I've been looking after you."

"H-how did I get here? What happened?" Nora stuttered out.

"Some neighbours called an ambulance, said they heard you screaming inside your house and then there was a blast."

"A blast?"

"Yes. Minimal damage though, thankfully, and remarkably." Linda held a clipboard in her hand. "Now the neighbours said your name is Eleanora?"

"N-Nora," she croaked out.

"All right, Nora. Can I get you anything?"

She requested some water which was brought, and she downed the glass in practically one gulp.

"Now, Nora," the nurse continued gently, sitting at Nora's bedside. "When you're feeling ready I'd like you to tell me all that you remember from last night."

"I-I remember being hot, too hot. Too hot to sleep. I couldn't fall asleep. Then, suddenly, there was - pain. Just pain..." Her body flinched as it recalled said pain. "And there was a glowing pink light..." That last part sounded ridiculous. Linda only nodded. "W-what happened to me?"

Linda the nurse gave her a sympathetic smile. "I wish I could answer that, Love. But I don't know. We're trying to figure it out."

Well shit, if the doctors didn't even know...

"Two colleagues of yours are waiting outside to see you. They say they're agents?"

_Let me guess... _"You can let them in."

"Long time no see, Eleanora Bane." Fury's tone was light, obviously trying to distract from the situation. "But in all seriousness, it sounds like you've had one hell of a night." He sat down where the nurse had been sitting.

"How do you feel?" asked Hill.

"Very - drained."

"I imagine, from what we've heard. S.H.I.E.L.D. is working to keep this under wraps," Fury informed her.

"Thanks, Agent Fury." He nodded. She swallowed, her throat still feeling raw and desperately in need of another drink of water. "What even happened?"

He shook his head after exchanging a glance with Hill.

"Uh oh, that's not a good sign," Nora croaked.

"Afraid not. We were hoping you might be able to tell us, or at least help fill in the gaps."

She told them the same story she had told Linda the nurse. "A-and then there was this bright pink light - I don't know where it came from-"

"You, Nora. It was coming from you." Her gaping silently back at him was the only response he received. "When the neighbours found you, it was like you were 'glowing from within' they said. Like it was - some sort of magic, was how they described it."

"Wha- _how?_"

"We don't know."

None of this was making sense.

"We're working to get you released from here as soon as possible - then we'll help you through this, whatever it is."

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because somewhere in there is a child who grew up without her parents and misses them. I can understand that." He didn't elaborate any further. "Now you rest up, and then we'll get to the bottom of this."

* * *

Despite the blast she recalled, her house was still standing, with little damage. Remarkable, just as Linda the nurse had said.

The worst damage was burn marks striped across the walls of her bedroom. _I did this?_

If anyone took a look at Nora they wouldn't be able to tell what had happened, as there was no trace of the fuchsia aura left behind. That was, any trace that was too visible.

She remembered the pain channeling towards the back of her neck. Her hand immediately flew up to that very spot, her fingertips soothing the skin that last night had been burning, fingertips that soon found something.

She used a hand-held mirror as well as the bathroom mirror to examine the new mark on the back of her neck. It was deep and seared into the skin on the back of her neck, only barely hidden when her hair was down, acting as a bit of a cover. She'd have to grow her hair out more. Rubbing her fingers over the mark, she could make out that it felt like a swirl. It looked raw and the skin was uneven - definitely like a burn. A burn that resembled something.

"What the hell are these?" Fury asked, examining the pictures of the glyphs when she showed him.

"These were in the file I found at your HQ building-"

"You snapped photos of S.H.I.E.L.D. property?"

She rolled her eyes. "My mum drew them, that's her handwriting. They're important somehow, but I don't know how yet. I remember dreaming of these right before the - the _incident_ happened."

"I've never seen anything like this. Looks outta this world." Fury shook his head. "But you think they might have something to do with this?"

"Well, seeing as how one of these symbols is now seared into the back of my neck, yeah. Can't be a coincidence."

Fury sighed, just as confused as she was. "Listen, just so happens that an old ally of mine is in town on leave from - business. Not sure for how long, but I think she might be able to help with whatever it is you're dealing with here."

"How? You said you've never seen anything like this before."

"I haven't. But trust me, magical light and powerful energy coming outta your fists? She's your woman."

_As promised, Nora and Carol will finally meet in the next chapter! ;) I'm so excited for this pairing! SO excited for the next chapter and our loves to finally meet! :D_

_As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :) Also, I've been on a writing spree so the next few chapters should be updated pretty quickly!_


	10. The Other Woman With Magical Fists

9 ~ The Other Woman With Magical Fists

So now she had powers. Freaking superpowers. Speaking of real-life superheroes...

Yup, powers. Now that they had established themselves very dramatically (and very painfully) they made themselves known by casting a fuchsia aura around her, faint, and really only noticeable in the dark, at least so far.

Great, now she looked like a walking, talking pink glow stick. Awesome.

It all sounded so bizarre, impossible, but she guessed that in a world where a soldier from World War II had been kept alive frozen in ice only to wake up 70 years later, alive and well, where gods apparently walked the Earth, and where aliens attacked New York, maybe it wasn't all that bizarre or unique. She was just another case.

A completely random one, it seemed.

Why her? Why of all people had a loner, stuck, twenty-five year-old orphan ('orphan' - she had never used that term to describe herself before, but it was the right term, wasn't it?) be granted with such powers? It made no sense.

"Double-fisting?" she joked, taking a sip of her own drink as Fury come over to their table, a beer bottle in each hand.

"One for me, one for our guest." They had arranged to meet Fury's ally in a pub the following night, and judging how quiet it was this time of evening, Nora wondered if Fury has worked his magic (no pun intended) and requested the pub all to themselves. She knew from previously working in a pub that this lack of action was unusual. This only made her more curious about who this ally was.

"Yes, speaking of: so, who is this 'other' woman?"

"An old ally of mine."

"So you said. S.H.I.E.L.D. too?"

"Eh... Sorta - not really... But we worked together, back in the '90s-"

"The '90s?" How old was this woman? Nora found it a little strange how secretive Fury seemed to be about this mysterious woman.

He chuckled at her bewilderment. "Trust me on this one."

As if on cue, the bell above the door rang, drawing their attention to the person who stepped into the pub and immediately strode over to their table.

"Fury," the woman addressed.

"Captain. Thanks for joining us."

"My pleasure."

Nora's first thought was, okay, the woman who she found herself staring at was nowhere near old - she couldn't be more than a few years older than Nora herself, thirty at most. Did she have superpowers too? Was not aging her power? Was she also a Captain America case? Nora would have scoffed at the thought but then remembered, _oh, yeah, I have superpowers now too._ Guess anything really was possible in this world, nowadays.

Nora's second thought, after processing and pondering how this woman could have worked with Fury in the '90s and still look so young, was that this woman was drop-dead gorgeous. She was dressed simply, wearing dark-wash jeans and a grey tank top with a leather bomber jacket over top, the collar baring a few pins, and combat boots. Her golden hair fell in waves framing her face and falling down past her shoulders. Not only that, but she carried herself in a way that screamed a certain brilliant confidence that Nora was instantly both envious of and in full admiration of. It made her so proud she wanted to applaud the woman for having such confidence. She also radiated a certain powerful nature that Nora couldn't exactly explain but one thing was for sure: this woman meant business and was definitely not someone to cross. The vibe she gave off was immensely alluring.

Great. It was already obvious that Fury had literally brought the coolest person to help Nora and she felt like a complete loser in comparison.

"Captain Carol Danvers, I'd like you to meet Doctor Eleanora Bane."

Captain? Captain of what? It didn't really matter at the moment, but now the beautiful, cool, confident woman had a title too. Nora was about to correct Fury about her being a Doctor like her parents, but instead decided to roll with it.

The woman - Carol - slid into the booth next to Fury, who shifted over so that she was directly across from Nora. She gave the other woman a smirk that instantly sent Nora's heart pounding faster than it already was.

Had she known she was going to meet such a gorgeous and obvious bad-ass tonight she would have put more effort into her appearance. But there had literally been no way to predict who she was going to meet, let alone this Captain Carol Danvers.

If she had come across this woman elsewhere, she would have been flustered. But here, sitting so close their knees and feet were practically brushing beneath the table, with Carol directly involved in Nora's life now, was overwhelming.

"Nice to meet you, Eleanora-" God, for once she didn't mind her elegant-sounding name. "I'm Carol, like the old man said." She held out her hand across the table, while Fury scoffed into his beer.

"You too. N-Nora-" The way her voice shook made her want to slither under the table and hide, but she bit back a curse and shook Carol's hand which caused an electric shock.

Carol winced. Oh, so she had felt that shock too, it wasn't just the smitten, gob-smacked Nora. "Sorry, that happens sometimes."

"N-no worries." She realized she still had her hand awkwardly outstretched. She drew it back and cleared her throat. "T-thanks for coming."

"Yeah, was told I was needed to help with something."

Nora wanted to avoid why they were all here, the elephant in the room - the bright pink glowing elephant. "Fury said you worked together in the 1990's?"

"Yup." Carol was now sipping the beer Fury had gotten for her.

"When were you born then?"

Carol's smirk grew a little wider. "1959. You?"

Nora's jaw literally dropped. "Girl - _how?!"_

Carol and Fury shared an amused look over her obvious shock. "Tell her what you told me," Fury said with a chuckle.

"What? That space does wonders for one's complexion?"

"Yeah, that."

Nora was still staring, jaw-agape, while Carol just sipped her drink as if all was casual. "You didn't answer my question."

"About what?" Nora couldn't recall being asked something.

"What year you were born."

"Oh. 1989."

"Ah. Good year." Nora just nodded.

"So what is it exactly that you need help with?" Carol asked directly. "Fury said it had to do with some glowy-powers?"

There was no point in avoiding it any longer. "Yeah..."

"May I?" Carol lay her hand out on the table, palm up, and Nora realized Carol wanted her to put her hand in hers. She was about to, but then hesitated and drew back. "I-I'm sorry, I just don't see how you can help - it's nothing personal, I just don't know if _anyone _ could really help-"

_BLAST!_

Nora uttered a little scream and ducked as a sudden burst of blue and orange light shot past her face and struck the wall a ways behind them, burning a painting that had been hanging there. When she peeked back up she found Fury chuckling and Carol smirking - her fist glowing orange.

"W-wha-wa-" Nora couldn't speak.

"It's a photon blast," Fury said.

"You finally got it right," Carol told him. She rested her chin on the fist that had now stopped glowing and turned back to Nora. "Trust me, I understand."

All right, that was proof enough for her. This time, Nora willingly offered her hand to Carol, who inspected it as it began to glow.

"Well, this isn't a photon blast," she confirmed. "I don't know what this is, I've never seen anything like it before. Although it seems more natural than my powers."

"We think it might have something to do with these - do you have the pictures?" Fury was looking at Nora, prompting her. She had been too busy staring at Carol.

"Oh, yes - sorry, just one moment-" She drew back her hand and began rifling through her bag on the bench beside her, glad for the low lighting to mask her furious blushing. She produced a print-out of the glyph photo and handed it to Carol.

"Ever seen those in your space travels?" Fury asked her.

"You just love saying 'space' don't you?"

"I think they're some sort of glyphs or runes," Nora explained.

"Could be, but I've never seen them before. But there's definitely a distinctive pattern with them." Carol looked back up from the photo. "I have lots of galactic connections, so if need be I can see if any of them know about these."

This time - oh, who was Nora kidding, she probably saw her staring before - Carol caught her staring and smiled.

"So wait, you've been to space? Like actual outer space?" Nora asked.

"Really, really. I've spent the last few years out there. Up there."

"All right, Space-girl."

Fury snorted. "Space-girl? I like it. That's what I'm going to call you now when you call me 'old man'."

A few beers and one long story later, and Nora was all caught up on their adventure in the 90s, complete with space travel, pilots, Skrulls, Kree, alien-cats, and plenty of photon blasts.

"So wait," Nora broke in once their laughter had died down. "You really were telling the truth when you said an alien clawed out your eye?"

"I sure as hell was," Fury confirmed. "Hurt like hell, too."

"Well, this just keeps getting more interesting-" Nora glanced at her watch. "Oh wow, well, this has been great, but I should get going, I have weight-training tomorrow." She managed to slip in the 'weight' last minute, in an attempt to sound cool.

It worked. "Oh cool, where do you train?" Carol asked.

But then she had to go muck it up. "The gym-" Nora visibly cringed at the stupid shit that had just come out of her mouth. _Well no shit, Sherlock. No shit it's the gym! Bollocks_. "I mostly do weight training and self-defense," she tried to cover for herself.

"Well, you can add superpower-training to the list now too," Carol said.

"Thanks for agreeing to help me. I really appreciate it."

"Yeah, helping friends when they're lost with no where to go is kinda what we do," Carol said, sharing a nod with Fury.

_Only took nine chapters, but they've finally met! And Nora is very smitten! ;) Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	11. Doctor and Captain

10 ~ Doctor and Captain

The next morning during her training session ('at the gym' - Nora still couldn't believe that actually came out of her mouth) her trainer, Angela, tells her she's distracted, and she gets knocked on her ass more than once. A lot, in fact. Yes, she was distracted, she wasn't about to deny it. She had a a certain blonde captain to thank for that, one who had made her instantly smitten and then almost beheaded her with a photon blast. Talk about a first meeting! Not to mention she had a fair bit of anxiety during that training session over her own powers erupting and destroying the gym and/or hurting anyone there.

Thankfully and luckily though, she'd been fairly lucky with them, her powers, having little-to-no trouble keeping them at bay so far, in the few days she had had them. No recurring incidents like the first, thank goodness. Of course, she had no idea what they, her powers, meant or where they had come from, and now on top of her parents' disappearance and mysterious work with S.H.I.E.L.D., she was trying to figure that out as well.

They, her strange powers, were like glowing fuchsia fluid, swirling around her hands and up her arms. At night she would lie in bed, arms held up above her, staring at the soft glow they gave off. It was beautiful, whatever _it _ was.

Her life had done a full turn in the span of a week. Her parents disappeared while doing secretive work for an intelligence agency, she suddenly had special powers, and now she was working with a woman from space.

Speaking of... The following morning, she was awoken by a banging coming from downstairs - someone was pounding on the front door.

Groggy, Nora stumbled and grumbled out of bed and threw on a robe - judging by the pale light coming in through the curtains, it was early morning.

The pounding carried on and she paused before continuing, now cautiously approaching the door.

Why would someone be pounding on her door in the early morning? Although it didn't sound aggressive, just urgent. And well, she had a weapon on her at all times now if need be.

As soon as she opened the door she was blinded by the early-morning sunlight, so much so that she didn't see who was on her front porch.

"Rise and shine, sunshine!" Her question was soon answered though by an high-energy voice.

Nora's eyes instantly grew wide, one, when she recognized the voice belonging to none other than Carol Danvers herself, and two, when she saw what Carol was dressed in. Certainly not as casual as the other night at the pub.

"What are you wearing?" Nora's eyes scanned the red and blue suit of armour, interlaced with gold designs, including a star on the chest-plate. "Is that your space suit?"

"My super-suit." Carol struck a pose, hands on her hips and head held high. "Now, come on, we've got a full day ahead of us! We've got a lot of work to do."

"What?" Nora was still waking up. "Did Fury send you?"

"Well he asked me to help you with your powers, remember? Come on, you didn't drink too much the other night," Carol joked. "I'm going to train you."

"Train me?"

"Yeah."

"In what?"

"Well, I'm kinda using 'training' as a broad term for helping you with your powers. Code name, if you will."

"But we don't even know what's wrong with me."

Carol raised her eyebrows. "Hey, there's nothing _wrong _with you. And training will help you to understand whatever it is."

"But you don't know what it is. I don't even know. No one knows."

"Then we'll learn together."

Nora asked her the same question she had asked Fury. "Why are you helping me?"

"Cause I know what it's like to feel lost and unsure and alone. Trust me on that. Do you trust me?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean, as much as I could, still not knowing you very well."

"In my experience, trusting people you don't know very well can lead to strong relationships." Carol then tossed something at Nora who fumbled but managed to catch it. It was another suit, red, blue, and gold too, just less gold. "What's this?"

"My old suit. Put it on."

"Oh - oh, okay..." Nora fumbled with the piece of clothing in her hands, holding it up to examine it. "You want me to wear _this?_"

"Uh huh."

"I-I don't know... It doesn't look like it would be very comfortable, to be honest-"

"Oh it is, actually. That's 100% Kree armour. From Hala. In space. Go change, meet me out here." She made a shooing motion with her gloved hand. "Go on, chop chop, Dr. Bane. Captain's orders."

Nora wasn't about to correct her in calling her 'Dr.'

"Alright, I'm going, _Captain_." Nora gave a little salute.

"Now you're just being a smart-ass." Carol was smirking again. "Now go!"

"Okay, I'm going!" Nora turned to head back inside, but then stopped. "Would you like to come in? Or I can leave you standing on the doorstep in your space outfit."

"I don't mind."

"Aren't you worried someone might see you?"

Carol merely shrugged. "Nope."

Some minutes later, Nora had managed to wiggle her way into the suit. But it quickly became clear that it was too big for her. Carol was taller so the suit was not fitted for someone with Nora's more petite stature.

Embarrassed, she headed back downstairs to find Carol gone. "Carol?"

"Up here, Doc."

Nora jumped when she turned and saw Carol levitating a ways above her. "Oh, so you fly too?"

"Yup!"

"So when you said you fly, you actually meant you yourself fly."

"I can fly planes too, but yes, I do in fact fly."

"Oh, cool..." _Seriously, that's the best you can come up with?! It's bloody brilliant is what it is! Bloody hell, Nora..._

"Nice suit, by the way." Carol grinned, coming back to ground level.

Nora scoffed. "I look ridiculous. I feel ridiculous."

"Arm." It took a moment for Nora to realize Carol wanted her to extend her arm out towards her. Nora did so, and Carol poked at the gauntlet, which turned out to not only be armour, but also a little screen. Carol tapped her finger against the screen a few times and Nora felt the suit getting tighter - shrinking. Suddenly, the boots fit, and the arms and legs weren't so long.

"Whoa - that was awesome!"

"That's not all it can do. You can change the colour too-" Carol began swirling her finger across the screen, and Nora watched in amazement as the suit began swirling along with it, changing to every colour and colour combination imaginable.

"You can play around with it later, but now, it's training time!"

"Alright, so where are we going?"

"Up-" Carol held out her hand, meaning for Nora to take it.

"Up?"

"Yeah, I gotta fly us to our destination."

"Oh. And you're going to - _carry me_?"

"If you don't mind. You afraid of heights?"

"No, I don't mind. And no, I'm not. But you're really going to carry me all the way there?"

"It's just up there." Carol pointed directly above them. Looking up, Nora found nothing, only sky.

"But-"

Carol smirked yet again. "Cloaking device. Now come on-" She stretched out her already extended hand. "Trust me?"

"You're really trying to get me to buy into this whole trust thing, aren't you?"

"Is it working?" Carol smirked.

"Yeah." Nora took Carol's hand.

_Just a sweet and flirty chapter ;) the training will come next! _

_So my updating schedule fell apart with studying for exams - but I'm officially done school now! :) Hopefully I'll update one more chapter before 'Endgame' before starting my story for that movie - in which Nora will play a big role!_

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!_


	12. (Lots and Lots)of Practice Makes Perfect

11 ~ (Lots and Lots) of Practice Makes Perfect

Carol swept her off her feet - literally - scooping Nora into her arms and carrying her bridal-style. Nora felt her stomach drop as they left the ground.

"Impressed?" She didn't have to look, she knew Carol was smirking. She just nodded. "Away we go!"

Carol didn't fly so much as float upward, not too high above Nora's neighbourhood. Carol reached out her own arm and tapped her gauntlet.

_"De-cloaking activated_," came an automated voice.

Nora's jaw dropped as a sleek black ship appeared before them.

"Still impressed?"

Nora still could only nod.

"Welcome aboard, Doc."

Nora was definitely no expert in spaceships, but this one seemed decently sized. Once on board, she found that it was quite spacious.

"Whoa - it's like the Tardis, only real! Not that I'm denying the existence of the Tardis or anything, as, clearly, anything is possible now!" She stood in the centre of the ship, beaming. "This is brilliant!"

"I'm glad you like it. I commandeered it from some space pirates."

"Oh. That sounds fun."

"It was."

"Is this why we have to wear the space-suits? Cause we're on a spaceship?"

"Not really, mostly cause these suits serve as protection, but they certainly add to the whole space-vibe."

"Alright, _Space_-girl. Now what?"

Carol made a gesture with her hands, like some kind of fighting stance: hands held together, a fist against a flat palm. Her hands gave off a dull glow. "Now, we train."

* * *

Training with Captain Danvers was no less than intense. Nora was _way _out of shape. She did feel better though when Carol told her that she was actually half-human, half-Kree (a race of often blue-skinned aliens from a distant planet called Hala), giving her more abilities such as strength and endurance.

"Not exactly a time of my life I like to remember, but I did learn a lot, I can't deny that. It was part of becoming who I am now - not just Carol Danvers, not Vers of Kree Starforce, but something else, something _more_..." She appeared lost in her thoughts for a moment. "And now it's your turn. You're not just Doctor Eleanora Bane, but you're also not just these powers. You're a new combination of both. You're unique."

Also, in Nora's defense, she was still getting used to moving around in the Kree armour suit Carol had given her.

Once Carol was pleased with their physical training for the day - Nora was glad as she was now out of breath, sore, and exhausted - she began working with Nora on mindfulness and the connection she now shared to her powers.

"Dig deep. These powers are a part of you now, so the sooner you accept that and start working on creating a relationship with them, between you and them, the better."

"Relationship? I hadn't thought of it that way before."

"Yeah, so it's not controlling you, and you're mostly in control, but more of a balance."

"Right..."

Carol obviously sensed the concern in Nora's voice. "Hey-" She reached out and placed a supportive hand on Nora's shoulder. "I wasn't in complete control of my powers for a long time, okay? It takes time," Carol told her firmly but in understanding. Nora nodded. "Good." Carol squeezed her shoulder, the action sending sparks through her arm, and this time Nora knew it wasn't from Carol's powers.

"Now, come on," she urged Nora. "You know what they say: 'Practice makes perfect'."

Nora rolled her eyes at the cliche but obeyed.

* * *

Slowly but surely, she was feeling more of a connection to her powers, and although Carol didn't understand them either, she tried to help Nora the best she could, and for that Nora was grateful.

The two were also quickly becoming more friendly, so training sessions had become filled with jokes and laughs and stories. Maybe even a bit of flirtation.

"Whoa, that's so cool..." Nora was gushing over the tech interlaced into Carol's old Kree suit. She was at one end of the ship, with Carol at the other, Carol teaching her how to use her universal communicator in the gauntlet of her suit.

_"Can you hear me clearly? See me?_" came Carol's voice, a holographic image of her hovering above Nora's gauntlet.

"Loud and clear here!"

_"Excellent, loud and clear from my end too. This can reach across the galaxy." _

"Will we get charged for long distance?"

_"Haha. Nope, no long distance charges. Good thing too, cause that would be one hell of a charge. And w__e can keep in contact this way if need be while I'm away."_

"You're leaving?!" Nora was sure Carol could hear the disappointment in her voice.

_"Yeah, I got a message regarding trouble in the far reaches of the galaxy. Gotta check it out, could be dangerous. Duty calls." _

"Yeah..." She sounded disappointed. She _was _disappointed. But she also understood that Carol's work took priority, and that it wasn't just any ordinary kind of work.

"Don't worry, I'll be back." Nora jumped a little when Carol appeared. She hadn't even noticed the communicators being shut off. "As soon as I can," the blonde assured her.

"Yeah, good luck out there. Be careful."

"Always." Carol gave her a little salute and smirk.

"Say hi to space for me, Space-girl."

"Will do, Doc."

Nora wondered if she would ever correct the other woman on that.

* * *

"I'm getting a good progress report from your personal trainer," Fury told Nora. The two were sitting on a bench overlooking the Thames.

"Yeah, she sure pushes me hard, but it's good." The two had been training together every day for two weeks, with Carol giving Nora a few days off in between before Carol left to return to space for her mission. "Thanks again, for all your help."

"Just doing my job, really."

"Speaking of, anything more on the elusive file?"

Fury shook his head. "Not yet. But I think our priority right now is to figure out what those damn symbols mean, and what connection they have to you."

It turned out that Carol was only gone for a few days, and upon returning put Nora back to work training.

"I did some training on my own while you were away," Nora informed her.

"Very good, that's what I like to hear. You know-"

"I swear, Danvers, if you say 'practice makes perfect' one more time-"

"Oh? What'cha gonna do?" Carol smirked and raised her eyebrows.

Nora thought for a moment, trying to come up with some smooth reply. "I'll blast you," she joked, igniting her fist and holding it up.

Carol's smirk grew, holding up her own glowing fist. "Then I'll blast you back."

They stood staring each other down for a few moments, and for just a moment, it seemed that both might live up to their word, before both powered down and laughed. Nora realized then and there that she hadn't been this content for a long time.

One thing was for certain, and that was that Carol was way _out_ of her league - and she wouldn't be here for long. But for some reason, life had decided to bring them together, and for whatever reason that was, she was thankful.

_If this were a movie, it would be easier to show a montage of them training, but hopefully this doesn't feel too rushed! _

_That took me longer than I'd hoped, sorry for the updating delay, I've been busy moving back home from university, so I didn't update before 'Endgame' as I'd hoped. I thought I had the next few chapters ready, but I think I need at least a couple more in between what I already have written (I don't want to rush their relationship ;))_

_Will be starting my 'Into Infinity' sequel so stay tuned! :) Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed (as always!) :)_


	13. Sleuthing

12 ~ Sleuthing

Nora had become side-tracked ever since the power incident from digging into what happened to her parents. A lot side-tracked.

Both the powers and the parents were big projects, daunting, but she had gotten a start on both of them. Now all she had to do was carry through and continue. And thankfully, she now had help with both. Professional help.

She continued the sorting of her parents' office. There was nothing more to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. or the mysterious work they had done there. It all must be in that file Fury had mentioned. But that was still M.I.A.

She had been thinking a lot lately about when her parents had disappeared, the men in suits coming to the door to bring the news. The memory was fuzzy though, from eleven years ago, and it had all been a blur then as well.

"Hi Mary," Nora said into the phone. "How are you? Oh, I'm well too, thanks..." Mary mentioned nothing about the hospital, so Fury had kept his word and S.H.I.E.L.D. had kept the incident with her powers quiet, thank goodness. She didn't need people pestering her about an explanation to something she couldn't explain. "I was just wondering about the day those men came to tell us about Mum and Dad's - about Mum and Dad. What do you remember? Any little detail you can give me."

_"Oh gosh..."_ Mary paused, and Nora assumed she was thinking back to then, that fateful day when her life had been changed forever. "_Oh Nora, what's all this about anyways?"_

"I've just been thinking about it a lot lately, thinking that maybe we could have missed something."

_"Nora, I'm not sure if - oh, well, of course you're curious. Just be careful. I don't want you going and opening old wounds."_

_Too late. Old and new ones. _"Describe it to me just as you remember."

"_Alright, I'll try. Well, they came to the door - there was two of them. They said they were part of the team your parents were working with, though they didn't look like archaeologists, not like how your parents did. I don't think very many archaeologists wear full suits and ties to a dig."_

"That's true." They looked more like S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, at least the ones she had seen while at the HQ building, only, of course, she hadn't known that then. "They showed us their badges, do you remember what they said?"

_"Oh dear..." _Mary paused, and Nora guessed she was deep in thought. _"I'm afraid not, I wasn't really paying attention to their names, I was too shocked." _ Nora nodded, understanding. She recalled the dazed state she had been in herself after the men had told them her parents were missing, and just how little specificity she recalled because of it.

_"__Sorry, Love, I know that's very unhelpful."_

"No, that's alright, thank you, Mary. I appreciate it."

_"Of course, Love. Happy to help."_

She clicked off the phone and pondered for a moment. It was all so vague and uncertain - how was she ever going to piece it together?

Her musings were interrupted then by a loud bang from above, on the roof, making her jump. Nora dashed outside, only to find that a familiar blonde in a red, blue, and gold suit must have landed on the roof.

"Bloody hell, I thought the roof was coming down," Nora called.

"I would have repaired it, I promise." Carol jumped down. "Why the long face, Doc?"

"Oh, I was just doing some digging, sleuthing if you will, into the day I learned my parents were gone. Since the whole powers thing I've been side-tracked from looking into their disappearance."

"Tough subject." Carol nodded. "Sleuthing, huh? So, what's the scoop, Sherlock?" She smirked.

Nora grinned back. "It's elementary, my dear Watson. Only it's not, really. It seems much more complicated." She sat down on the front steps, Carol joining her. "In the years since they disappeared, I realized that my parents and I had a complicated relationship."

"Parental problems? I get it. Go ahead, shoot."

"Okay then. My parents were always very work-driven. They were very passionate about what they did, and that's great. They had me when they were young, not teenagers, but mid-twenties. I think if they had a choice, they would pick work over me. And I think that situation arose." Her voice broke a little. Oh no, she was not going to cry, and especially not in front of Carol. She had wasted enough tears on this over the years already. "They left in the middle of the night for an expedition without saying goodbye. Three months later, I learned that they had disappeared." Carol said nothing, looking sympathetic, and waited for her to continue. "Bottom line is, they left and are still gone and aren't coming back." She paused, suddenly realizing all she had just spilled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go on such a rant there."

"Naw, it's alright. By the sounds of it, you needed to get all that out of your system."

"Yeah..." Carol was right, it _did _feel good to have said all that, a weight off her shoulders. Somewhat. She didn't think she would ever have total closure on this subject. "Archaeology was their life. The older I got, the more I realized that I was probably more of a burden to them than anything."

"I don't know about that. I think you're being too hard on yourself."

Nora scoffed. "You wouldn't be the first to tell me that." She paused before saying, "part of me wants to know what happened to them, and the other part doesn't."

"Cause you're afraid it might confirm your suspicions?"

Nora was surprised. "Yes, that's exactly why, actually."

Carol nodded. "Yeah, the truth is scary sometimes." Then she added, "I never got along with my parents. I was too wild of a girl for them."

"I'm sorry."

Carol shrugged. "I'm not. I went and found people who were also wild and wonderful and they became my friends and family. And they're great." She was smiling now.

Nora nodded. "Well, I'm still looking for that."

"You know, I have something that may just cheer you up." Carol held up her arm and in seconds a hologram extended from her gauntlet. "This is a fighting staff, which, according to my contacts, bears the same sort of markings as you have in the photo. Those mysterious glyphs."

Nora looked closely at the image. "A fighting staff? That's interesting."

"Yeah, it's not only a fighting staff, but one with magical properties. Space magic."

Nora raised her eyebrows. "Space magic?"

"Yeah."

"Magic from space?"

"Yup."

"Didn't even know there was such a thing."

"They've got everything in space."

"Guess so." Nora scoffed and looked down at her hands. "Space magic? That's the stupidest shit I've ever heard."

"Even stupider than a human woman having an alien blood transfusion and getting powers from a spaceship exploding?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive-"

"Hey-" Carol nudged her. "I'm just kidding."

"I mean stupider even than me gaining flashy pink superpowers. So I guess my neighbours weren't wrong when they described my powers as magic."

"Well the staff itself is magic. By the sounds of it, it can be imbued with power, helping to contain and control it."

"Sounds like what I need."

"Exactly."

"So where is it, this magical staff?"

Carol pressed her suit's gauntlet. _Location Unknown_ popped up along with the image.

"Excellent. Just my luck."

"Here, I'll send this to your gauntlet."

"You can do that?"

"Oh yeah. Space technology is awesome."

"Think your fancy gauntlet can track the whereabouts of this staff?"

"We'll find it," Carol assured her. "It'll be an adventure."

"Yeah." Nora stood. "Mysteries, archaeology, and now we can add 'Space magic' to the list. My life is suddenly a blend of _Sherlock Holmes, Tomb Raider_, and _Doctor Who_. This adventure keeps getting stranger and stranger."

"Those adventures are the best kind."

_Thank you all so much for the reads, reviews, follows and favourites! :D that's so amazing! You all are super! ;D_

_I have started my 'Endgame' story! :) (wanted to update this one before Nora and Carol appear in that one!) Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	14. Dangerous Women

13 ~ Dangerous Women

There was a certain intimacy to the training sessions with Carol, one that had always been there from the start and was steadily growing. It wasn't just that Carol was now deeply involved with two very personal pieces of Nora's life, ones that she had kept mostly hidden from those she was close to, the few people they were, there was also something else, a certain connection they shared from the beginning.

Carol had gone off on another space mission, and then returned earlier than she had said she would, leaving Nora to assume she had efficiently dealt with the problem. Nora found she was becoming more accustomed to Carol's unpredictable schedule.

"Welcome to the museum," Nora said as she led Carol inside her house. "Don't mind the mess," she added, embarrassed, wishing she had tidied up some. "I'm still working on clearing it out."

So far, she had managed to avoid bringing Carol inside the house further than just the front entrance way. She was embarrassed because of the mess, yes, but also because of the fact that her house did look more like a museum than a home.

Carol assessed all the boxes and papers. "You're getting rid of all this?"

"Yeah. It's taking longer than I'd like."

"Why?"

"Cause I keep avoiding it, to be honest."

"No, I meant why are you getting rid of it?"

"It's all Mum and Dad's. They're not here anymore and it's all just sitting around collecting more dust, so-" She shrugged. "Then, eventually, I'd like to sell the house. I don't need all this space. I'd like to get a flat overlooking the river."

"Your childhood home? What about all the memories here? Don't you want to hold onto something of your parents?"

"Funny thing was, we didn't actually spend a lot of time here. My parents were always traveling, and were more than happy to drag me out of school to bring me along - and I was glad to skip school. Still had to do all the assignments though." She gestured to some of the items. "This is a Samurai sword, from Feudal Japan. This shield is from Ancient Rome, a gladiator. A strip of cloth likely from an English crusader. And this string of beads is Mayan." She chuckled and shook her head. "God, I hate all this stuff."

"Though not as much as you think, it would seem," said Carol, hinting.

"Look, this dish is Roman-era, likely a survivor from Pompeii - oh my God, fascinating, the ancients used dishes too!"

Carol laughed. "You know your stuff."

"Well, I guess that's just what naturally comes with growing up around two passionate archaeologist parents. That, or it's in my genetics. Probably both."

"Well, whatever it is, you have a knack for it."

"Thanks. Yes, despite my love-hate relationship with archaeology, it's one thing I'm good at." There was a pause in the conversation, and Nora jumped in, taking a plunge. "I used to bar-tend at this pub by Parliament. They usually give me free drinks when I go in, but could I maybe buy you some appetizers?"

Carol smirked. "Food is usually more expensive than drinks."

"I know." Nora shrugged. "Besides, black market makes good money - I'm kidding!" She laughed when Carol swatted at her. "So, Space Girl, what do you say?"

"It's 'Captain' to you. And I say yes."

* * *

"The Dancing Cat?" Carol chuckled as Nora opened the pub door and held it open for her.

"Hey, don't laugh." But she was giggling too.

Less than an hour later, the two women were sitting at a booth in the cozy Dancing Cat Pub chatting and laughing over drinks and appetizers.

"I like your ring," Carol commented, nodding to the gold band with pink and red jewels adorning Nora's left middle finger.

"This one?" She raised her middle finger, making Carol laugh. "Thanks, it supposedly belonged to a pirate. My parents used to joke that they were like modern pirates, modern treasure hunters. I dug it out of Mum's jewelry box years ago."

"So you're a forger and a thief? Possibly a pirate?" Carol said, elbow resting on the table, chin resting on her fist, eyeing her companion with that signature smirk of hers. Nora wondered if Carol knew just how much power that smirk held over her, and if that was why she kept doing it, because she knew it would drive Nora crazy - _was _driving her crazy. Even just picturing it made her all fidgety, so actually seeing it and directed at her made her feel a whirlwind of emotions. Carol was a smart woman, so Nora assumed she knew.

"Guess so. You sure are spending time with some interesting company. You sure you want to be so close to a supposedly dangerous woman like me?"

"Trust me, I seem to have a thing for danger. In fact, I seem to attract it," Carol said playfully. "And, if you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a dangerous woman myself."

"Just a bit," laughed Nora.

"Looks like we're both attracted to danger. Think I didn't notice you checking me out the first time we met?"

She was thrown off by the question. Heat instantly flooded Nora's face, and this time it wasn't from the alcohol. "W-well," she tried desperately to cover for herself. "-When Fury said he had an old ally who might be able to help me, I wasn't expecting you. Nor when he said you were from the '90s."

"Hey, didn't say I didn't like it." Carol smirked again, overwhelming Nora, who smiled back.

"You know, The Rolling Stones once played here in this very pub."

"Really?"

"Yeah, early on in their career. I think they were rehearsing for a show. Long before my time but I always like to drop that little fact."

"Well, it worked."

"Hmmm?" Nora smiled from behind her drink.

"You were obviously trying to impress me with your little fact."

"That obvious, huh?"

"It worked." Carol smirked yet again, only confirming Nora's suspicion that she knew how much Nora liked it. How could one little simple action cause her to react so much? She had never felt this way before.

Her crush was rapidly slipping into something more.

_Ooooo! ;) Haha! Will now be updating my 'Endgame' story! Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed, as always! :)_


	15. It's A Date

14 ~ It's A Date

Nora was still groggy when someone came knocking at the door the next morning. When she opened the door and saw who it was - although she already had a pretty good sense based on the familiar early morning banging on the door - she was glad at her choice of pajamas: a snug-fitting tank top (with no bra underneath) and shorts.

Carol grinned. "Morning, Doc. Did you have sweet dreams of me?"

_Oh you bet I did... Mostly of you smirking at me... _Nora really hoped that out of all of Carol's special skills, telepathy wasn't one of them.

"Haha, very funny. You really are a morning person, aren't you?"

"And I take it you're not?"

"Not really. Come on in, I'm just finishing breakfast."

"Sorry to interrupt."

"Oh, no, don't be." Nora waved her inside, leading her to the kitchen.

"I wanted to thank you again for last night," Carol said.

"Oh, well, thank you for joining me. It was fun, I had a nice time."

"Yeah, so did I."

Nora really wished she could give a victory fist-pump right then and there in the middle of the kitchen. "It's been a long time since I've gone out like that."

"Me too."

"Don't get out much in space?"

"I'm usually working when I'm in space."

"Oh, sorry," Nora said through a mouthful of cereal. "I'm a terrible hostess. Can I get you anything?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you that. I wanted to repay you, if you wanted. This Space-girl needs a coffee and I was hoping you'd join me."

_Hells, yes!_

"And I thought I would do something for you in return for being such a good sport and putting up with my intensive training regime."

"You mean, suffering through."

"Oh come on, it's not _that _bad."

"Says the half-alien super-soldier! At the start it kind of was. But I feel great, better than I have in years."

"That's good, I'm glad."

"And I'd love to join you for coffee, just let me change and brush my teeth and hair." Nora dropped her dirty cereal bowl in the sink.

"You don't have to change..." Carol raised her eyebrows jokingly, although she sounded mostly serious. And she was wearing that smirk again. Oh, that smirk...

Nora felt a surge of pride. _Now, come on, think of something smooth to say back... _"Well, thank you. But I'm not so sure everyone would share your humble opinion if I went out in public looking like this."

"Well, they're missing out, that's all I can say."

Nora bit her lip to keep herself from beaming or screaming, or both.

"Be right back." As soon as she was in her room and had shut the door, Nora started doing a silent victory dance.

* * *

Nora tried to get ready as fast as she could, all while trying to make herself look more presentable. She had even added a little lip-gloss - the gloss was mostly dried up, which spoke to how long it had been since she had used it last.

They walked to the coffee shop, walking so close that their arms kept brushing.

The shop they chose was bustling that morning, but that just meant that they could stand in line together for longer, arms still brushing from time-to-time. Okay, Nora would admit, a few of those times were on purpose for her part, but only a few.

"Wow, back in my day, we didn't have all these fancy options," Carol remarked, scanning the menu.

"'Back in your day' huh, old lady?" Nora joked back.

Carol feigned offense before turning back to the menu - they were nearing the front of the line now. "Damn, I didn't know there were so many kinds of coffee, let alone how many ways to have your coffee. Also, it was not this expensive for a cup of coffee twenty years ago."

"Welcome to the twenty-first century, my friend."

"Yeah, guess so."

"Good morning, what can I get for you?" the perky barista asked them when it was their turn at the front of the line."

"Gosh, all that time to decide and I still don't know-" Carol did one last quick scan of the menu. "I'll just do a large latte, please. And Nora?"

"Um, I'll get a medium vanilla latte, please," Nora requested.

"Coming right up. What name should I put it under?"

"Carol."

"Got it! We'll get those started for you."

"Thanks."

"Thank you for the coffee, Carol," Nora said as they went to find a table. Lucky for them there was a table for two near the window.

"You're very welcome, Nora."

Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and she was almost certain they were stained by a permanent blush.

"Large latte and medium vanilla latte for Carol."

"That's us." Carol slid out of her seat and went up to the counter to retrieve their drinks.

"Thank you," Nora said when Carol passed her her drink.

"Cheers." They touched cups, giggling when some coffee spilled onto the table.

They began chatting, and Nora quickly realized that being with Carol made her feel as flustered as she was around Lizzie, only to a greater extent, which told her that how she felt around Carol was much more than her crush on Lizzie. That just confirmed it - she had fallen hard for Carol Danvers.

Speaking of Lizzie - as if her thoughts of the woman had manifested her before them, the cafe door opened and in walked Lizzie herself and Randy.

Seeing them made Nora realize just how long it had been since she had visited the museum, and this cafe wasn't too far from the museum itself.

They noticed her right away. Randy waved, prompting Lizzie to turn and see her, her lips breaking into a huge smile.

"Nora!" They left the line and came over to Nora and Carol's table. "Good to see you, it's been so long! How have you been?"

"Well, thanks." Nora wasn't about to mention the whole powers thing. "How about you?"

"Good thanks. Really good..." The two co-workers were grinning at each other. "We're on a date, actually."

"Yeah, finally asked her out," Randy said.

A couple of months ago, Nora's stomach would have dropped with the realization that Lizzie was no longer single, and obviously not interested in women. However, now, she didn't find herself to be disappointed at all, and her next words were genuine. "Oh that's great, I'm happy for you. I was wondering when you'd work up the courage and ask, Randy."

"That obvious, huh?" he chuckled.

"Only a little. Randy and Lizzie, this is Carol," Nora introduced, gesturing to the blonde sitting across from her. "Carol this is Lizzie and Randy, they work at the museum where I go to give talks and present artifacts sometimes."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Carol shook their hands.

"Whoa, static!" Randy chuckled when he shook her hand and received a shock.

"Sorry, that happens all the time."

"What are you two up to this morning?" Lizzie asked.

The two women looked at each other. "We're-" Nora began, not really sure what she was going to say. We work together, she's my personal trainer, she's my friend. All were true.

Carol had plans though. "We're on a date too," she said, and this time Nora's stomach did drop, but due to excitement. Now she probably had a silly grin plastered on her face to match Randy and Lizzie's.

Carol now looked a little nervous and unsure, looking at Nora and silently asking if what she had said was okay. It was a look Nora had never seen from her before.

She was determined to let her know that she was absolutely fine with it. "Yeah, we are." She reached out and placed her hand over Carol's on the table so that their fingers were intertwined. It was an action driven by such confidence that it surprised her, but it felt good, felt right. Now Carol was smiling again.

"Oh-" Nora didn't miss the look of surprise that crossed the others' faces. "I didn't know that you were interested in women," Randy said. "Sorry, I just always assumed that - I shouldn't assume things..." Now he looked embarrassed.

Her crush on Lizzie mustn't have been as obvious as she thought. "That's okay, I never said anything. You couldn't have known," Nora assured him. "I'm not offended that you assumed otherwise." He smiled thankfully.

"Popular spot for dates, it would seem," Lizzie said.

"Yeah, good spot."

"Well, we won't intrude any longer. Nice to see you. You'll have to stop by the museum again soon, Nora," Lizzie said. "Nice meeting you, Carol. Have a nice time."

"Thanks, you too."

"Friends of yours?" Carol asked once the others had returned to the line.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say that. They're archaeology and antiquity nerds, like my parents."

"Well I'm sure you get along just swimmingly, then." Carol nodded. "Cute couple." She went to take a sip of her coffee. "Shit, that's still really hot-"

It wasn't until she pulled away to wipe the coffee that had dripped down her chin that they realized they had still been holding hands, fingers still entwined.

_Thank you so much for all the reads, follows, favourites, and reviews! :D _

_Yay, more flirting and romantic progress! I need to come up with a ship name for these two! ;)_

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	16. First Piece of the Puzzle

15 ~ First Piece of the Puzzle

Nora's crush was rapidly slipping into something more, especially after what happened at the coffee shop, but she wasn't about to stop, instead, plunge right on ahead. And it seemed like Carol wasn't about to stop either.

Things were a little different between them now, not a bad different, but now both knew how the other felt should things move forward beyond where they were now.

The phone rang the following morning. _"Hey Nora, it's Randy."_

"Hey Randy, it's Nora."

He chuckled. _"Long time no talk."_

"Indeed."

_"How was your date?"_

"Good, thanks. Really good, yeah." She could still hardly believe it. "Yours?"

_"The best!" _Nora couldn't help but smile at the obvious excitement in his voice - excitement that rivaled hers. _"So, you know that piece you brought in along with the crusader sword hilt? You didn't know what it was?"_

"Yes. The potential vampire spike?"

_"Yeah, that. Well, crazy as it sounds, now it's glowing, and I thought you might want to take a look..." _

"Glowing?"

_"Yeah, weird right? A kind of dim pinkish, redish light. It's awfully strange. Haven't a bloody clue how or why it would be doing that." _

That was enough to have her out the door and on the next underground train to the museum.

"Glad you came when you did, cause, get this: it's glowing more, now. Brighter." Randy met her at the door and led her to the back room where the artifacts were stored.

"What the hell?"

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"What the hell?"

Randy chuckled and opened the door to the back room - Nora could make out the glow before even laying eyes on the strange artifact.

"See, weird right?"

"Yeah..." It was exactly as he had described, a pinkish, redish glow, though now not so dim. In fact, a glow that looked rather familiar...

"Hey Randy, might I be able to get some water, please?"

"Oh, yeah. Here, I'll get you some. Be right back."

"Thanks, Mate." As soon as he stepped out, she held her hand up beside the glowing artifact, igniting her fist. Just as she suspected, the glow was the same colour. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Examining the artifact more closely, it started to seem familiar, unlike before when she hadn't the faintest idea of what it was.

"Here's your water." Randy returned then, baring a glass of water.

"Thanks. Hey, would it be alright if I took this home with me? I think I might have a better idea of what it could be after going through more of my parents' stuff." It wasn't a total lie.

"Yeah, sure. I mean, it is technically yours. What do you think it is?"

"A old fighting staff. Well, a piece of one."

"Oh. Oh, cool."

"Yeah." Space-magic. It was becoming more relevant than she originally thought.

* * *

She may have startled Randy a little by how quickly she grabbed the glowing object and dashed out of the museum.

As soon as she was home she activated the gauntlet from the suit Carol had given her and accessed the image of the full staff Carol had sent her. After fiddling around for a few minutes she managed to figure out how to zoom-in and could better make-out the detailing - the image was actually surprisingly clear.

Her suspicions were proven correct: this strange object was indeed part of the staff, the middle section judging by how both ends looked broken. And the glow it emitted seemed to have grown brighter still since she had gotten a hold of it - could it be her power connecting with that of the staff, the staff willing her to imbue it?

Whatever it meant, they were one step closer than before. She fiddled around with the gauntlet some more and called Carol on hers.

"Carol, I've got it!" she exclaimed excitedly when a holographic image of the blonde appeared. "A piece of that space-magical staff thing! It was in my parents' collection and I'd brought it to the museum. I got it back though, and it's glowing."

_"Interesting. I wonder where your parents got it."_

"Yeah. Or if they knew what it was."

_"Yeah. Well, that's one piece down. Now we just have to find the others."_

* * *

Carol's visit was lasting longer than intended.

She had expected to visit Earth and the few people she knew there and then be off again, back to space, traveling around the galaxy until there was more trouble and she was needed to put an end to it. But now, she found herself somewhat Earth-bound, and honestly, she wasn't unhappy about it.

She was glad to help Nora, and had told Fury she would help her, and she really, genuinely wanted to help Nora the best she could. She knew what it was like to feel alone, scared, and uncertain about what was going on around you. She had had friends to help her through it all, and that's what Nora needed, a friend.

A friend.

A friend...

What she hadn't expected was to be charmed along the way, charmed by the funny, sarcastic, doctor with a passion for archaeology (even if she denied it).

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to stick around," Fury admitted the next time he and Carol met up for a 'progress report' on Nora.

"I have a mission here. I'll stay until it's finished."

"Always efficient."

"Well, if you start a job, you see it through and finish it. You know how it goes, Director."

"Indeed I do. And well, luckily for you, this is the kind of mission that's ongoing."

They shared a knowing and amused glance from across the table.

"Hello, Folks." Speaking of - Nora arrived then.

"Saved you a seat, Doc." Carol gestured to the chair beside her.

"Ah, thank you. We're you talking about me?"

"Yeah, about your progress in training."

"Ah, well, good things then."

"Well, you sure seem in good spirits," observed Fury.

"You know what, I am. I haven't felt this great in years!"

"Well, it seems like you two are getting along very well." Fury sent another knowing glance at Carol who just raised her eyebrows back.

"Yeah, I would say we are," agreed Nora. "Wouldn't you say, Space-girl?"

"Yeah, yeah we are." Carol nodded. "Very well."

_So, I'm already planning a sequel to this story, post-Endgame Carol and Nora :) I need more of these two! ;) Got to finish this one first, though!_

_Thank you so much for reading and the follows, favourites, and reviews and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	17. It's A Kind of Magic

16 ~ It's A Kind of Magic

Nora and Carol were once again training on board Carol's ship, sending a blast of energy towards each other from their fists, the blasts meeting in the middle. They stopped the blasts, and stood staring at each other from across the ship's deck.

Nora must have misread the situation, because she could have sworn Carol was about to start the blast again, so she sent her own blast, only Carol didn't, and Nora's blast struck her, knocking her down.

A yelp escaped Nora's lips and she immediately ran over to help the now groaning and sprawled-out Carol sit up. "Oh my God, Carol! I'm so sorry! I thought we were going again - oh, bollocks, I'm such an idiot-"

"Naw, my fault." Carol brushed Nora's self-blame away. "That's on me, I got distracted..."

"That's unlike you. Usually the only thing that distracts you is how powerful _you _are."

Carol chuckled. "Well this time _you_ distracted me. You're glowing." She looked up at Nora from her seated position, and it struck Nora how usually it was the reverse, she looking up at Carol as Carol was taller.

"Yeah, well, that's what comes with having space-magic powers."

"No, I mean you're glowing, naturally glowing. Besides your powers."

Nora's voice vanished, leaving her speechless, and all she could do was blink back. So she was glad when Carol spoke again.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?" Nora still couldn't answer, all her words had disappeared. "With my friends, who are really my family. I'd like you to meet each other."

"I'd love to." Finally, she was able to speak again.

"Great. You shall be my guest of honour."

"Well I will be honoured to be your guest of honour." Nora offered her arm.

Carol chuckled, clasping Nora's offered arm and getting to her feet. "I'll pick you up at four."

"Early dinner?"

"Well, we have to fly to Louisiana."

"Ah. Should we leave earlier then?"

"Naw, this baby'll get us there." Carol patted the side of the ship. "Space technology. Works wonders."

"Okay Space-girl."

"Okay, Glowing-girl," Carol tested out.

"Ha, doesn't flow as well as 'Space-girl.'"

"I like it." Carol winked. "Oh, and Fury's coming to dinner, too, by the way."

"So don't try anything."

"That, and we can tease him together."

* * *

Carol returned at four o'clock exactly, and Nora was all ready. She decided to wear a skirt - hey, she was going out for dinner, so why not? - and a jean jacket and ankle-boots.

Carol was wearing jeans, boots, and the leather jacket with the pins along the collar she had been wearing the first time they'd met.

"Evening, Doc. Looking good."

"Don't I always look good?"

Carol chuckled. "True. Yes, pardon me - looking _very_ good tonight."

Nora laughed. "Thanks, you too."

"Why thank you. You ready to head out?"

"Yes."

"What's in the tin?" Carol nodded to the round tin in Nora's arms.

"Biscuits, for later. I wanted to bring something."

"Well that's sweet of you. Maybe I should sample one, just to make sure-" Carol reached out.

Nora hugged the tin close and twisted away. "Glowy hands off, Danvers! They're for dessert."

* * *

The Rambeau house was nestled in a field of weeping willow trees, at the centre of a serene landscape. Carol expertly landed the ship out in the field, activating the cloaking device so the neighbours wouldn't see it.

"Auntie Carol!" A woman who looked to be in her thirties opened the door and immediately wrapped Carol in a hug.

"Hey, Lieutenant Trouble," Carol returned.

"Um, excuse me, but I've definitely been promoted to 'Captain' Trouble by now." The two shared a laugh before the woman turned to Nora. "And you must be Eleanora."

"Yeah, that's me. Monica, right? Thank you very much for having us."

"Of course, our pleasure! Any friend of Auntie Carol's is a friend of ours. Come on in." Monica waved them inside, Carol giving Nora a wink as they removed their shoes.

"Uh oh, there she is." A woman who looked to be in her sixties greeted them.

"Rambeau," said Carol, giving the woman a hug. "Nice to see you too."

"Uh oh, there _they _are." Fury entered the hall after Maria. "They're both troublemakers."

"A good match then, huh, Director Fury," said Carol.

"I was so excited to hear Carol was bringing a friend." Maria hugged Nora. She said 'friend' with such warmth Nora wondered if she was implying something else.

"Nice to meet you. Carol's told me all about you."

"This is James, my husband," Monica introduced. "He's 100% Auntie Carol Approved."

James chuckled. "Yes, I am. And very glad." He kissed Monica's cheek.

"Thank you for having me, it's nice to meet you all. I brought dessert." Nora presented the tin.

"I tried to sample, she wouldn't let me." Carol grinned.

"Are those cookies?!" A young boy and girl suddenly appeared, as if summoned by the treats.

Nora chuckled. "Yes, they are. English biscuits."

"Cool!"

"These are our kids, Nikki and Janie," Monica introduced. "Say hi to Auntie Carol's friend, Eleanora."

"Hi Elinor-a"

Nora chuckled again. "It's a bit of a mouthful. You can call me Nora, if you like."

"Great, now everyone's here and we all know each other. Let's eat!" said Fury, making everyone laugh.

Soon they were gathered around the dining room table, the conversation flowing smoothly.

"Nora's an archaeologist," Carol brought-up. Nora began to wonder if she should have just corrected her on that long ago.

"Well..." Nora rolled her eyes, hoping they wouldn't ask too many questions, and she wouldn't have to lie about a degree she did not have.

"Oh yes, like your parents, Carol mentioned?"

"Uh, yeah, sort of..." Nora busied herself with her salad.

"Ah, following in their footsteps," said Maria.

"Hope not." Now everyone was silent with all eyes on her. "Sorry. That would sound weird out of context. My parents left thirteen years ago for some expedition, and they never came back. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with archaeology, usually leaning more towards the hate side." No one said anything. _Way to kill the mood, Nora. Bloody hell..._ "Sorry, I'm ranting again."

"Well, you seem rather passionate about it, from what Carol tells us."

"She knows her stuff." Carol raised her eyebrows.

"What's ar-ke-olo-gee?" asked Nikki, making everyone laugh and thankfully returning the mood to how it had been.

Nora and Carol offered to do the dishes after dinner.

"Come here, I want to show you something." Carol slid open the back porch door and gestured for Nora to follow her. Outside she found a couple of porch chairs. Carol settled down into one. "Perfect place for stargazing."

Nora sat down in the other chair, tilting her head upwards. "Oh wow - it's so clear."

"Right? I used to sit here and stare up at them, thinking of all that space between us and them. Never imagined I would ever see it up close, but, life has a funny way of surprising us."

"Yes, it does."_ I would have never imagined that I would fall in love with a woman from space. _The words were in her mind, and in her heart, and almost on her lips when a sudden voice startled them.

"There you are!" They jumped at Fury's voice. "Come on you two, the sooner you get back inside, the sooner we have dessert!"

* * *

By the end of the evening, the kids were falling asleep, and Nora and Carol took that as a sign that they should be on their way.

"We should head out," announced Carol. "We've gotta fly back to London."

"You can stay!" said Janie, suddenly wide awake. "You can sleep in my room."

Carol and Nora exchanged a smile and glance. "That's very sweet of you, kiddo. But we've got to go."

"Thank you though. We might have to take you up on that another time," Nora said, before really realizing the implications of what she said. She blushed and busied herself with her shoes. After thanking everyone again, and saying goodnight, the two women headed off.

"Have a safe flight!" called Monica.

"We will!"

"She's real sweet," Maria told Carol before they left.

"Yeah, I like her," agreed Monica.

"Yeah," Carol nodded, fondly watching Nora chat with Fury. "I like her too."

_Yes, the title for this chapter is inspired by the Queen song! ;) _

_So I of course had to have Monica and Maria feature in this story! And I just invented a family for Monica :)_

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed (as always! :)_


	18. Mystery and Magic

17 ~ Mystery and Magic

"That's weird as hell," Fury commented when they showed him the glowing piece of space-magical staff.

"Yeah," agreed Nora. "Space-magic. This just keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"Damn right. I've been thinking: you said it was a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who came to tell you your parents were missing, right?" She nodded. "Do you think if you saw their picture, you would recognize them?"

"Yes."

"We can work with that." He withdrew a tablet from his inner jacket pocket, tapping the screen a few times before handing it to her. "This is a facial recognition list of all the agents working at the time your parents went missing. Flip through and see if you recognize anybody."

She nodded and began scanning the faces. She scrolled through two whole pages before she saw someone. "Here, him!" She pointed to one man.

"Agent Dawes?" Fury tapped the man's image and a personal file came up. "Well, we're outta luck here: the guy's dead. Died in action five years ago."

Nora sighed. Definitely out of luck.

"Keep scrolling. See if you can find the other guy."

The list was alphabetical, and long. She thought she was out of luck again until she reached the last names beginning with 'S'. "This guy."

"Agent Jasper Sitwell?"

"Yes. He was the other agent."

"Well, he's very much alive. You're sure it was him?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright then. I'll contact him and tell him he has urgent business to attend to in the UK."

"Thank you, Fury."

"Just doing my job. Now, back to this magic wand thing."

"Staff," Carol corrected.

"Yeah, whatever. What's so significant about it?"

"If we find all the pieces and put them together, they'll form the full staff and I can use it to help contain and use my powers," Nora explained.

"Which have to do with space-magic," added Carol with a grin.

"Space-magic?"

"Sounds silly, doesn't it?" said Nora.

Fury sat down at the table. "You know, in all my years with S.H.I.E.L.D., I never had any dealings with any magic mystery or space stuff until you came along." He nodded to Carol, who continued to grin.

"You're welcome."

"Now this stuff seems to pop up all the time."

"Lucky you."

"Yeah, lucky me." He left to contact Sitwell and returned with the details. "He'll be here within twenty-four hours, so I suggest getting together all the questions you have."

Nora nodded. "Thank you."

"I hope this helps."

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

"Dr. Eleanora Bane?"

Nora looked up from her plate of chips to see a bald man in a suit and glasses standing before her table. Fury had arranged a meeting place for them.

"Agent Jasper Sitwell?"

"Yes, nice to meet you." They shook hands and he sat down across from her. "So, Director Fury tells me you're looking into your parents' disappearance."

Getting right down to business.

"Yes. You came to tell me of their disappearance thirteen years ago."

"Yes, I remember. And again, I'm very sorry. And sorry that they are still missing."

Nora only nodded. _So am I._ "So you worked with them? On whatever project they were working on at the time with SHIELD?"

"Yes. I wasn't working quite so directly with them, it was more a project they were working on themselves, though within a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and with our help. But I was part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team they were reporting back to, working for."

"So, what were they working on?" There was a pause. "Fury gave me clearance to know such things."

"Alright, fair enough. Well, speaking of clearance, I was still a fairly new agent at the time, so I didn't have very high clearance, so I didn't know all the details."

How convenient. "So what about someone who does?"

"Your parents weren't the only ones working so closely on this project, and to disappear suddenly and mysteriously while working on it. We lost a lot of agents that day. Good agents. My mentors."

"I'm sorry."

He nodded.

She waited a moment. "So was there a file?"

"There was, but after the disappearance, the project was terminated, and the research removed."

"Removed?"

"Destroyed. Too dangerous."

"That's strange, wouldn't it potentially help with figuring out the disappearances?"

He shrugged. "Not my call."

She only nodded. It honestly sounded suspicious.

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help, however, the best help may not be from S.H.I.E.L.D. Your mom kept a journal while she was working with us. I think she may have recorded some notes on the project in there."

This was the first Nora was hearing of a journal. "What did it look like?"

"Thin, blue cover."

Looked like she had more digging around the house ahead of her.

"Thank you, that gives me a place to go from to keep looking." They shook hands again. "Where are you headed now?"

"Back to D.C."

"Ah. I heard Captain America is working through SHIELD in D.C. now."

"He is."

"How exciting."

"Yes. Black Widow too."

"Ah, interesting. Exciting colleagues."

"Yes."

"Say hello for me."

"I will."

"So, how'd it go?" Fury asked her when she met up with him and Carol again afterwards.

"Fine. He didn't have much to say on the project my parents were working on when they disappeared, but he said my mum kept a journal, so I should start looking there."

"Huh. Where's this journal?"

"No idea. Somewhere around the house, I'm guessing. Thank you again for arranging the meeting."

"Hope it helps."

"Well, good news," stepped-in Carol. "I received a response about the staff from a contact in space, and I know where another piece of it is."

"That's great! Where is it?"

"Up there." Carol smiled and pointed upwards. "Suit-up, Doc. We're going to space."

_Of course, we all know the HYDRA reveal is yet to come... But some space-travel next and some more romance to come! ;)_

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	19. Do You Believe in Magic?

18 ~ Do You Believe in Magic?

"Space-space? Like real outer space?" Nora gawked.

"Yeah, the big blue thing up in the sky where all the stars are."

"Oh, piss off." She gave Carol a playful nudge, who just laughed. "So, when do we leave?"

"Whenever you want."

"You're sure this is safe?" Nora asked one last time, less than twenty minutes later.

"Yes! This is a 100% space-approved craft. We're super safe! Plus, your captain knows what she's doing," Carol assured her as she flicked switches and pressed buttons on the ship's switchboard that looked overly complicated.

Both were dressed in their suits, ready for space. Once they were both strapped in and secured, Carol started the engine and they were soon in flight.

"How're you doing so far?" Carol called over the rush of the engine.

Nora clung to the seat arms, knuckles white and teeth clenched. "Okay..."

The ship was pointed straight upward, heading up, up, up, about to leave Earth behind.

With some sudden turbulence, Nora cried out, her hand flying from its grip on the seat.

"Hey-" Next thing she knew, Carol was flying one-handed, her other hand closing around Nora's in a firm, comforting hold. "I got you."

"Thanks." Nora was surprised by the lack of shakiness in her voice.

The afternoon sky darkened as they zoomed higher and higher, and soon, the sky was dark and you could see the stars even though it was daytime.

"Open your eyes!" Carol called. Nora hadn't even realized her eyes were closed. "You're missing the best part!" Nora's eyes flickered open. "Welcome to space, Doc."

"Whoa..."

"See, told ya."

"Yeah..." Everything was stars, thousands of tiny, flickering stars. It was breathtaking, literally, as Nora felt her breath catch in her throat.

Only moments later did Nora have her palms and face pressed to the glass of the ship's front window, admiring the view of the stars, actually being amongst them. Her initial fright had worn off with some help from the stars.

She didn't know how adorable she looked, but from where she sat beside the amazed English woman, Carol certainly noticed.

"So, where exactly are we going?"

"Knowhere."

"Huh?"

Carol chuckled. "Knowhere, it's a planet. My contact says the piece of staff is being held by a man called the Collector. Apparently, he collects-"

"You don't say."

"Shut up. He collects relics from various planets and houses them in his museum. Kinda like a space-archaeologist. You two should get along well."

"Okay. On to Knowhere then."

It didn't seem like very long before Carol was announcing that they had reached their destination.

"Here we are: Knowhere."

Nora must have been too enthralled by the stars to notice the passing time. "I've never been nowhere before. Looks like a giant head."

"I'm pretty sure that's what it is."

"Okay then..."

They flew through one of the eyes of the giant head, lowering down into what appeared to be a bustling metropolis, heavily populated by aliens that looked right out of _Star Wars, Doctor Who,_ comic books, or even a mix of all three.

"Carol?"

"Yeah?"

"Pinch me."

"Huh?"

"Pinch me. I think I must be dreaming - ouch!" Nora cried out when, instead of a pinch, she received a gentle photon-zap. "Oi!"

"How's that?" The low lighting gleamed off Carol's eyes, adding to her already mischievous look. "Let's go. The view in here is good, but I'll bet it's even better out there."

Nora couldn't help herself with her next line, but Carol had certainly opened the door for it. "The view _in_ here or the view from in here?"

The blonde gave her signature smirk. "Both."

Once out of the ship, Carol had to keep stopping her stride to wait for the awestruck Nora to catch up. She wore that amused smile again. "Well, what d'ya think, Doc?"

"It's - bloody brilliant..."

"That it is."

"Captain Danvers!" The two jumped as a pink-skinned, pink-haired young woman in a white dress and silver jewelry emerged in front of them through a cloud of steam. "The Collector has been expecting you."

"Alright. We've come to discuss an artifact."

"Yes, I am aware. Do come inside, my master is eager to meet with you."

Hands clasped before her, with a stiff posture and stiff, forced smile, the woman led them deep into what could only be described as a large, open exhibition hall.

Unlike most museums she had been to, Nora hadn't a clue of what most of these artifacts were. However, the thought most presently on her mind was, _Mum and Dad sure would have loved this. _They loved any museum, let alone one in space! Perhaps some of the excitement and awe she was feeling there in that moment was for them.

She almost bumped into Carol, once again distracted by her surroundings - _we're in space, holy shit, actual outer space! In a freaking space museum - in space! _ \- and hadn't realized they had stopped walking.

"I am honoured to present to you, my master, Taneleer Tivan, the Collector." The woman bowed her head as the figure with spiky white hair and adorned in a fur coat slowly turned around to face them, as if for dramatic effect. The man wore dark glasses, which he slowly removed, also dramatically, with a white-gloved hand.

A grin crawled up his lips. "So this is her, hmm? The infamous Captain Marvel?"

"Mar-Vell," Carol jumped in. "Two-words."

"Well, my dear, whatever name you may go by, you are very well-known of in this part of the galaxy. A myth, a fairy tale..." His smile stretched further. "As an Elder of the Universe-" Judging by the way he said it, Nora took it that this was a big deal. "-I do not proclaim this often, but it is a great honour to stand in your presence." He bowed low.

Carol cocked an eyebrow. "A handshake will do just fine."

Tivan chuckled, extending his hand, still somewhat bowed over. When they shook hands he received an electric shock. "Oooh! Sparkly!" He chuckled. Then he turned to Nora, seemingly just realizing she was there. His face fell. "Oh, oh my..."

"Uh, hi?" No elaborate introduction for her?

"Pardon me, my dear, I do not wish to appear rude. It is just that you look so much like someone I used to know. Someone very dear to me..." Now he seemed lost in another world.

"I guess I have that kind of face?" She hadn't thought so, but this had now happened twice in the last couple of months: at the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, and now here.

"However, there is no way you could be her, that is impossible, unfortunately." He straightened up, clearing his throat and seeming to snap from his trance. "And what is your name, my dear?"

"Nora Bane."

"Well, Miss Bane, it is also an honour. And to what do I owe the pleasure of welcoming you two lovely ladies to my collection this fine day?"

Was he flirting? Nora couldn't quite tell. However, she had never paid much attention if guys were flirting, for obvious reasons.

"We're here about an artifact that is supposedly stored here," Carol explained. "It's a piece of staff with magical properties-" She extended her hand and pulled up the holographic image on her gauntlet. The image swirled before them.

Tivan examined it. "Ah..."

"You know which one?"

"My dear-"

"Captain."

"I'm sorry?"

"Call me 'Captain' instead."

"Very well. Captain, I know each and every piece in this collection."

"Where did it all come from?" piped up Nora.

"All over the universe. I have been amassing my collection over the last thousands of years, and all that you see before you is the result of my life's work. Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself."

"Yeah, it's great."

"I'm glad you think so, Miss Bane."

"So wait, are you like, thousands of years old then?"

"Yes. And not looking so bad, no?"

Again, she wasn't sure if that was his attempt at flirting, so she just kept quiet and followed him while he led them deeper into the exhibition hall.

"Here we are." He stopped before a small glass case, housing the piece of staff.

"That's it."

Instead of a key, Tivan pressed a button on the side of the case and the glass blinked away like a screen. High-tech security system.

"Carina." He snapped his fingers and waved over his assistant. The young woman rushed over with a box. Very carefully he picked up the staff in his gloved hands, placing it inside the box and enclosing it with the lid, all with great care. He held it out to Nora. "There you are."

"Um, thank you."

"My pleasure."

"You sure you don't mind us taking it?"

"Not at all, my dear. You need it more than I do," he said knowingly, which was strange because Nora hadn't even mentioned her powers, leading her to wonder if he had a certain set of powers himself, beyond immortality.

"So, what does it do?" He extended it out. Nora reached out to it, partly of her own impulse, and partly because she felt drawn to it, as if it were pulling her towards it...

As soon as she touched it, there was a flash of pink and both she and the Collector shot back in opposite directions. Carol rushed to help Nora up while Carina rushed to the Collector's aid, and while the piece of staff clattered to the ground.

"Well! That's what it does!" The Collector shook himself off, brushing off his assistant's attempt to help him, and promptly scooped the artifact back into the box and shoved it into Nora's hands.

"How many units?" Carol asked.

"Oh, no, no." Tivan waved away her attempt to pay. "Thank you, but no." He turned back to Nora with a warm smile. "You remind me of an old - _friend _of mine. I will not charge you for the staff."

"That's it? Just cause I remind you of someone?"

"Indeed. And she was more dear to me than anyone will ever know. So take it, take it and be gone."

"Well, thank you."

"My good wishes to you, Eleanora Bane." She hadn't told him her full name either. "Farewell, Captain Mar-Vell."

"You got it. Thanks."

"Farewell!" called Carina.

"So, two down, one to go," Nora said, peeking inside the box at the staff.

"Look at us go, Doc."

"And we didn't even have to pay."

"All cause you reminded him of an 'old, dear friend."

"Shut up."

"Lover more like."

"You think?"

"Definitely, by the way he was talking." Carol nodded. Then she nodded to the bar across from the museum. "Hey, before we head back to Earth, you want to get a drink?"

_Exciting things to happen in the next couple of chapters during their space adventure! ;) And I just had to have the Collector show up, love him! _

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	20. The Space Between Us

19 ~ The Space Between Us

The space bar was dim-lit, noisy, and colourful. It reminded Nora of an Earth bar, except for the various different aliens inside. That was much more like_ Star Wars._

Carol strode right up to the bar counter, signalling the bar tender, and ordered them up two drinks of some sky-blue liquid.

Nora examined the contents of her glass. "This isn't going to kill me if I drink it, is it?"

"You think I'm plotting against you? Nora, after all we've been through." Carol lay a hand on her chest and gave a wounded expression. "No, you'll be fine. It's very mild."

Nora took a small, cautious sip, expecting a strong taste to explode onto her tongue. Instead, a sweet, fruity taste tickled her taste-buds. "Huh, not bad. Cheers."

"Cheers." Carol raised her glass as well. "To good teamwork."

"We do make a good team, don't we."

"I would say we definitely do." They touched their glasses and took a generous sip each.

"Here, put the staff in your utility belt." Carol nodded to Nora's suit's belt, which had a holster on both hips. "They were made for blasters but will work for magical staff's too. Probably want to keep that thing close to you, as well. We got it for free, but I bet it's not cheap."

"Good point." Nora slipped the staff into the holster, it resting against her hip.

"See, now easy access in case you need to use it."

"Oh, watch out everybody, or I'll space-magic you!" Nora covered her mouth, her words having come out a little louder than intended.

Carol snorted into her drink and they shared a laugh.

"That woman over there is staring at you." Nora nodded over Carol's shoulder across the bar.

Carol snuck a glance before taking a sip of drink. "Not me, you."

"Yeah, right."

"No, I'm serious. It's not every day these folks see a human. But it's not just that: she's checking you out." Nora snorted. "Totally is."

"She is not-" But when Nora turned to see for herself, the woman was definitely looking their way, and her smile grew when she saw Nora looking.

The woman had pink-coloured skin and dark hair with pinks streaks in it, like Carina, the Collector's assistant, although this woman's skin was a darker shade, more red. Must be the same species of alien. Nora had to say she loved the diversity in space they had encountered so far.

She felt kind of bad - while everyone else in this establishment had at least one other person to sit with, this woman was alone. She didn't look lonely, however, but maybe she would enjoy some company.

"Maybe I'll go invite her to sit with us. That okay?"

Carol shrugged. "Sure. I bet she'd like that. Especially if _you_ go ask her."

Nora rolled her eyes and playfully swatted Carol's arm. She slid off her stool and approached the woman, giving her a friendly smile as she stopped before her table. "Hi."

"Hi."

"My friend and I couldn't help but notice you staring our way. She thinks you were staring at me, but I know for sure you were staring at her. I just came to clarify and prove her wrong."

The woman didn't seem embarrassed to be caught staring and instead totally embraced it. "Actually, she's right, I was staring at you."

This caught Nora off-guard. "Oh. Why?" _Why? Seriously, Nora. _No wonder she held a steady single streak for years. She was the most awkward creature imaginable! Carol was probably laughing at her.

But why her? Especially when she was sitting next to Captain Carol Danvers.

"Yeah, it's hard to not stare when you're clearly glowing."

Oh. _See! _ She wanted to say to Carol. It was just cause of her powers. "Oh, yeah..."

"But that's not the only reason why I was staring." The woman looked up at her through thick eyelashes. "You can sit down, if you'd like." She scooted over on the bench slightly.

"I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come sit with us?"

"Thanks, but I think your girlfriend hates me."

"Huh?" Nora turned to look back at Carol, who suddenly looked serious and defensive. "Oh, she's not my girlfriend... We're just friends."

"Well, you should go back to your _friend_. Thanks for coming over to say hi."

"Uh, yeah, you're welcome. No problem. Bye." Well that had been the clumsiest sentence ever uttered.

Carol's expression lightened when Nora came back to the counter, and came back alone. "So, was I right? Or was I right?" The blonde raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, maybe she was looking at me. But it was mostly because of my powers."

"Okay, Doc." Carol finished her drink. "Listen, I saw a bunch of folks outside surrounding my ship, so I'm just going to go check on it and make sure everything's all good out there. Dont want anyone dismantling it and selling the parts.

"That happened before?"

"Almost, so I'm extra cautious now. It's special, sought-after tech. Be right back."

"Okay. I'll miss you."

"I'll be gone like two minutes, if that."

"'Tis twenty years till then.'"

"Did you just quote _Romeo and Juliet_?"

"Maybe."

Carol rolled her eyes. "Be right back. I'll miss you too."

Almost as soon as Carol was gone, the bartender placed another drink at Nora's side. "Oh, thanks but I didn't order another one."

"No, the woman over there ordered one for you." The bartender nodded to the red-skinned woman Nora had been talking to earlier.

"Oh - well, thanks."

Nora met eyes with the woman again and held up her glass as a thanks, taking a sip. It tasted like the last drink, but perhaps it was stronger, for her head began to rapidly spin.

"Now that she's gone - how's your drink?" The woman came and took Carol's place on the bar stool across from Nora. "Whoa, you okay?"

"Yeah, just feeling a little light-headed all the sudden."

"Do you want to go get some air? Maybe that'll help."

"O-okay." Nora slid off the stool - the bar was just a blur now.

"Whoa, easy there." The woman took her arm and steadied her when Nora stumbled, and helped lead her the rest of the way outside, all very calmly.

The gust of fresh air once outside was very refreshing, but unfortunately did nothing to stop the spinning of her head.

"Ugh," Nora groaned. "Not helping, I'm afraid."

"Humans are so gullible."

"Huh?" Despite her blurry vision, Nora could just make out the woman hold something up.

Nora didn't have time to see what it was, for there was a sudden flash and she felt a shock to her neck, and then nothing.

* * *

While the folks outside had definitely been checking out her ship - and had started checking her out too, once they knew she was the owner of the ship - they weren't looking to sell the parts, so that was good. After a few close calls over the years, Carol felt you couldn't be too careful.

Being at ease quickly vanished however, when she reentered the bar and found the stools where she and Nora had been sitting empty. One quick scan of the room told her that the woman who had been eyeing Nora was gone as well. That couldn't be a coincidence...

Cursing under her breath Carol did one last check of the bustling bar, but Nora was definitely not there. Where had that woman gone?

Carol activated the tracker in her suit, set to track her old suit, and quickly became alarmed to find it being taken away from this area point.

Without another thought, Captain Marvel flew off into action.

_Carol to the rescue! :D Thank you to a reader who commented suggesting Nora or Carol get jealous seeing another woman flirting with the other! :) _

_Okay, finally got some romance coming up in the next chapters! ;) I believe this is what you would call a 'slow burn'._

_As always, thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	21. Oh Captain, My Captain!

20 ~ Oh Captain, My Captain!

This was officially the weirdest day of Nora's life, and there had been a lot of weird things happening lately.

And her luck kept running out. First she had been caught breaking into the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Then she had been caught dealing in the black market. Now she had been abducted.

In space.

Despite her life taking a dramatic turn for the better, she still had the same rotten luck.

When she came back to consciousness, her neck and shoulders were extremely stiff and she was shackled up to the inside wall of a ship. And it wasn't Carol's ship.

"Ugh," she groaned, her throat sore and her voice croaky. This alerted her abductor, the red-skinned woman from the bar. "You know, I've heard of some sketchy people hanging in and around bars, but this is new."

The woman chuckled - she was sharpening a knife in her hands, the blade glinting in the dim lighting of the ship. This didn't serve to help the already tense mood.

"So what? You seduce women and lure them into a trap?"

"Depends. I personally have never come across a human in space before, so there'll be a pretty price on your head because of that. Not to mention you're different - you hold a certain power that most humans don't have."

"I'm gonna say it: that's pretty messed up."

"Captain-" Another alien - different species - appeared.

Nora had sure had a lot of experience with alien captains lately. "Oh, there's more of you."

"Yes, there's a crew of us. Let that be warning enough."

"We're approaching the jump point," the man said.

"Good. Prepare to jump."

Nora was trying to keep her cool, but was beginning to freak out, understandably. She wasn't sure what he meant by 'jump point'. Were they going to make her walk the equivalent of the plank? She desperately wished there was some way for her to contact Carol. Distress signal! S.O.S.! They couldn't have gotten that much of a head start, could they? Carol would surely realize something was wrong.

"What I want to know, is why a human is wearing the Kree emblem," the woman said, crouching down and tapping the gold star on Nora's chest with her finger. "Where did you get this uniform?"

"No touchy." Nora jerked away - as much as she could with being tied up. "A friend gave it to me."

"The friend you were at the bar with?"

"Maybe..."

She scoffed. "You're so in love with her, it's pathetic."

"You don't know anything about me."

The woman shrugged. "I know enough."

"Well from what I saw at the bar, didn't you want to get to know me better?"

"Ha, you're cute, I'll admit. But not interested, sorry."

"Well that makes two of us." If she could just concentrate long enough to get her powers warmed up and working, maybe she could do something to help her situation. Bust out some of the moves Carol had taught her during their many training sessions. But it was difficult to calm down and concentrate when she was abducted!

"Hey uh, Captain? It looks like a flaming meteor is in our path up ahead," a crew member called.

The woman joined him by the window. "That's not a meteor-"

_SMASH!  
_

When the deafening sound faded and the bright light died, a furious woman stood in the ship.

"Carol!"

"Nora!"

Nora turned to the crew members who were recovering from the crash caused by Carol bursting in, literally. "Uh oh, now you've done it."

"Yup, you've invoked my wrath, so prepare for the consequences." Carol held a fist against her palm in fighting stance.

With the front window smashed out, all the contents of the ship began to be sucked out into the void of space.

"Nora, hang on!" Carol had a mask and helmet on, her hair mohawked out the top of the helmet.

She pounded the floor with her fist, sending them below decks, a little safer from the air vacuum above.

"These shackles!" Nora yanked on them, straining her wrists.

"Trust me, you're safer with them on for now!"

"WHAT?!"

Carol was now being shot at, so didn't have the chance to answer.

Nora was also in the line of fire, so she personally felt it would be best if she could get free of these damn shackles. However, if she was attached, she might have a lesser chance of getting sucked out of the severely damaged ship.

A stray blast struck the wall, disconnecting the shackles from the ship, but still securing her wrists. This was okay - better, not ideal, but okay. She felt the air sucking around her, threatening to drag her out into the deep, dark depths of space.

"Nora, stay where you are!"

"I'm trying-"

A big, tall crew member with a giant gun approached her.

Nora ignited her fists with her power, the shackles jingling with her every move.

He chuckled at her and charged forward. Nora put her combat training skills to good use - both from the gym and Carol's training sessions - but then realized, 'hey, I have these superpowers. Why the hell aren't I using them?!"

She sent a blast of the pink energy stuff (supposed space-magic) towards the guy, but instead of striking him, as she had intended, it engulfed him. Judging by his expression he was just as confused and taken aback as she was. When she moved her hands around, he moved with them, so she made a sharp move and tossed him to the ground.

Behind her, she could hear Carol throwing photon blasts. But those, loud as they were, were drowned out by a near-deafening tearing sound as the floor beneath her feet was torn away and sucked out the hole in the front of the ship. She heard her own startled cry.

Amidst her rapid flailing, she managed to grab onto the ship's siding, which was quickly coming apart itself. Not good, not good at all.

"Nora!" Carol had abandoned the fight and rushed to her aid. "Nora let go!" The blonde hovered a ways behind her.

"But-"

"Do you trust me? I'll catch you."

She didn't have time to decide. Everything was happening so quickly - too quickly!

"Do you trust me? I've got you."

Nora closed her eyes. Then she let go.

_Whew, kind of intense! Certainly a memorable first trip to space for Nora! _

_ Romance next! ;D Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	22. Written in the Stars

21 ~ Written in the Stars

She felt herself get sucked away before striking something and that something wrapped around her.

"I've got you," Carol whispered. "I've got you."

Nora clung to her, shaking uncontrollably.

"It's okay. I've got you," Carol soothed.

"Y-you've got me."

"Yeah, yeah I've got you."

Carol hadn't even bothered using her ship to come and track Nora down, instead just leaping into action and flying to the rescue herself. So she took them back to Knowhere where her ship still sat.

Nora's legs were wobbly when Carol set her down on her own two feet. She didn't want to let go.

"You okay?" Carol left her hand resting supportively on the small of Nora's back.

"Yeah, yeah. Just need a minute... I think..." Nora wobble-walked over to the railing and leaned against it. "Wow..."

That had all happened so quickly; she wasn't even sure how long they had been here in space. It all felt like a blur. Had it really happened at all?

Yes. Yes it had. All of it.

Wow...

Carol came to stand beside her. Neither said anything for a while.

Until Nora scoffed. "Wow. So humans never flirt with me but aliens will. I should have come to space ages ago." She chuckled, turning to humour. "Maybe I would have met you sooner. Dangerous women, am I right-" Her face fell when she noticed Carol's serious expression. "Carol, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Nora, I'm so sorry. That was totally my fault. I never should have left you behind - how could I have been so stupid?"

"Well, we didn't know she was a pirate. Which is kind of cool, I'm going to admit. Space pirates - just not so up close and personal." She half-chuckled, half-scoffed. "I felt kind of useless back there, if I'm being honest."

"You were out of your element. And most likely in shock. Not your fault."

"Well, thank you for leaping into action like you did. For coming to the rescue - for coming to _my_ rescue."

"Of course. You're not hurt are you?"

"No. These shackles are a bit annoying though." She held up her still-bound wrists.

"Here, allow me." With a small photon-blast, Carol had the restraints off.

Now Nora rubbed her wrists. "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Nora turned to look out at the sky. "Well, now I can say I've been to space, been to a space museum - literally. Been to a space bar, and kidnapped by space pirates."

This made Carol chuckle. Nora was glad - she didn't want her to feel guilty. "Anything else you want to add to the list while we're at it?"

Carol's words hadn't come across as flirty, but they did act as the perfect shift into something Nora had been wanting to address. "Well, yeah, there is actually one thing: kiss a space-girl." Well, no going back now. She'd said it, loud and clear, and to Carol's face. "I'm okay being lost if you're the one finding me." Sure, it was cheesy, but Nora had to say it. "When we met you said you help friends who are lost. You also asked me to trust you, but do you trust me?" Carol said nothing, so Nora just continued to ramble, wanting to get it all out. "That night at Maria and Monica's when we were star-gazing on the porch, I was thinking - during, and after - that it would have been the perfect time and place to kiss you..." Well, that had escalated quickly. But it was the truth.

Now Nora stood dead silent, her words hanging heavily in the air between them.

She began to rethink everything she had just said when slowly, Carol's signature smirk crawled up her lips. "And, why didn't you?"

_That's what I've been asking myself!_ "Well, Fury interrupted us..."

Carol chuckled. "Yeah, he did. He ruined our moment." She turned to look at the stars. "Well, here we are, stargazing again," she said, her tone hinting. She turned back to face Nora. "You could make up for it now."

Smooth as F.

But Carol was right - now was her chance.

So Nora leaned in, Carol doing the same, and both met halfway, their lips connecting.

Nora had very little kissing experience, so she was glad when this wasn't as messy from her end as she had feared. Or at least Carol didn't pull away in disgust when Nora kissed her.

In fact, the blonde deepened the kiss, and Nora had to grab the railing behind her in order to steady herself.

Both pulled away, breathless, flushed, and smiling.

"Wow."

"Wow is right." Carol smirked.

"God, you have to stop doing that." Nora bit her lip.

Now Carol quirked an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

"That smirk! It drives me crazy! In all the best ways, of course."

Now Carol's smirk only grew. "Do you really want me to stop?"

"Well..."

"Cause I can, if you really want me to." She tried to scowl, but was smiling too much.

"No, don't you dare!"

Carol laughed. "Put it this way: the more I smirk, the more you can wipe said smirk off my face."

Smooth as F.

How were people so good at this?

"Let's practice, shall we?" Carol leaned back against the railing, the cool breeze ruffling her golden locks, and the star's sparkling reflections in her eyes. She smirked.

Nora was so screwed.

She practically threw herself back into Carol's arms, Carol responding by lifting her up like it was nothing and sitting her on the railing, holding her by the waist. Nora's legs went around the blonde's waist, pressing their bodies closer together as they continued to snog.

Nora moaned into their kiss and felt Carol smile against her lips. When she pulled away, Carol kissed the bruises on Nora's wrists from the shackles, her lips feather-light against the sensitive skin.

"Were you really jealous back there, at the bar? About the pirate lady flirting with me?"

"Yes, I was!"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think she was jealous of you."

Hand-in-hand, they boarded the ship, their kiss still lingering on both of their lips, as well as smiles.

Suddenly though, Carol's smile fell and she held up her hand, signalling to stop.

"What is it?" Nora asked.

"Someone's on board the ship."

_Nora wondering how people are so good at flirting is literally me XD Sorry there was a bit of a delay in updates, I was away (my sister and I were in Disneyland for a few days, and I met Carol and some of the other Avengers! :D) _

_Hope you enjoyed the romance in this chapter! And a favourite character will be making a cameo appearance in the next chapter... ;)_

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) _


	23. Surprises

22 ~ Surprises

Carol led the way deeper into the ship, fist glowing, ready to blast the mysterious someone if need be.

They walked all the way through to the back of the ship, where they found a man in a long leather coat digging through one of the supply stores.

"Hey." Carol's voice startled him, and he jumped and bonked his head on the side of the ship.

"Ow! What the hell-" He spun around, the annoyance quickly falling from his face when he saw them, replaced by a cocky grin. "Oh, well, this might just be my lucky day. And I thought I'd already found the most intriguing things aboard the ship." He chuckled and straightened up, tucking his thumbs into his belt loops. "Hey there, I'm Peter Quill, but you can call me Star-Lord-"

"'Star-lord?'"

"Yeah, perhaps you've heard of me."

"Can't say I have - _Star-lord,_" Carol repeated mockingly. Nora couldn't help but give a brief snort of laughter in agreement.

"Hey, don't laugh, it's my proud title," he defended.

"Okay, if you say so."

"But seriously, you haven't heard of me?" The ladies shook their heads. He seemed astounded and offended by this. "No? Seriously? The Great and Mighty Star-lord, legendary outlaw-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there." Carol held up a hand. Yes, the man didn't realize his attempts at flirting would get him nowhere - he didn't know that the two women he was currently flirting with had just confessed their feelings for each other and had just been lost in passionate snogging. "And I'll kindly ask you to please leave my ship before I kick you out."

"Your ship?"

"Yes, it's mine."

"Oh, well, this is awkward... I haven't actually been in this situation before..." Quill muttered.

"That still doesn't explain what you were doing aboard my ship going through my stuff." Carol observed him, arms crossed.

"Well, in my defense, I didn't realize it was taken, let alone yours. It looked abandoned."

"Temporarily abandoned. But we're back now, so I would like my stuff and ship back, thank you very much."

"Perhaps we could strike a deal-"

"Not interested."

Nora was impressed - Carol was excellent at not giving in to any deals and standing her ground.

"All right, fine. Very well-" Quill stepped over the case he had been rifling through and brushed past the ladies.

"Hey, hand it over, Quill." Carol extended her hand.

Quill sighed, reaching into his inner jacket pocket and withdrawing a tool of some sort that he had stolen. "It's Star-lord."

"Whatever." Carol took the item and made a shooing motion with her hand. "Get moving, _Star-lord_."

Nora was still impressed - Carol was good at this.

Quill moved to leave, but then stopped again. Nora caught Carol rolling her eyes. "If you're around space, maybe we'll see each other again."

"Unlikely."

"Well, worth a try." With that, he was finally gone.

"Well, that was weird," Nora remarked once he was gone and they were alone. "So, evidently space is full of cocky men too, not just Earth."

"Oh trust me, it is. Hopefully we won't be seeing him again." Carol shook her head. Then she smiled at Nora. "Come on, Doc. Let's go home."

* * *

On the way home, Nora admired the light from the stars illuminating Carol from above. Carol caught her staring from the pilot's seat and smirked, and it took every ounce of self-control for Nora not to jump in her lap and snog her again.

Finally, they made it back safe and sound to Earth. Nora never thought she would be so happy to see her old house.

"Ah, home sweet home." They got changed out of their suits and settled in, Nora getting them something to eat.

"I'm sorry, again," said Carol, now looking guilty again. "About our disastrous space mission."

"It wasn't all bad," Nora assured her. "Maybe you can make it up to me..."

"Oh, and what did you have in mind?" Carol smirked, and now Nora knew for certain she was doing it on purpose.

Nora leaned forward, motioning for Carol to do the same. They met halfway again and were soon lost in kissing once more.

"Hey, you're back - oh-" Footsteps alerted them to someone else's presence, and they pulled away. Fury walked into the room. He stared at them for a moment. "Well? Did something happen while y'all were up in space?"

"Sure. Lots happened. We visited a space museum, a space bar, I got captured by space pirates..."

Fury raised his eyebrows. "Well, sure sounds like you two were busy."

"We were. Were you just hanging out in my house until we got back?"

Fury shrugged. "So, in and amongst all that, did you manage to get the magic thing?"

Nora held said 'magic thing' up. "Sure did. Two pieces down, one to go."

"Good, good. Any lead on that last piece?"

"Nope, not yet."

"You were too busy for that." Fury nodded to them, still locked in an embrace.

The ladies exchanged a glance, rolling their eyes towards each other. "No, we just haven't started searching yet, we've been too focused on finding the first two pieces," Nora explained.

"I thought you were supposed to be looking for this thing?"

"We were."

Fury chuckled and turned to leave. "Ha, Hill owes me ten bucks."

"What for? You had a bet?"

"Yup. That you two would hit it off. You're welcome, by the way?"

"How's that?"

"I introduced you." Fury gave a grin. "Go on, you can thank me anytime."

"See ya later, Old Man," said Carol, waving him away.

"The sooner you thank me, the sooner I'll quit bugging you about it." With that, he left them.

Nora turned back to the grinning blonde. "So, what now, Captain Dearest?"

"I guess go after the last piece of staff. But first..." Carol was kissing her again.

Yeah, finding the last piece of the staff could wait for now.

_Sorry for the delay - I've been busy moving back to university and getting ready for school to start again!_

_Hope you enjoyed the cameo! And the cute Nora/Carol moments ;) _

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	24. Just Some Light Forgery

23 ~ Just Some Light Forgery

Two pieces of staff down, one to go. The long, intensive search had begun.

"These things always happen in threes," Nora commented during one long searching session. "And the third and last part is always the hardest."

"Not always," said Fury.

"Well, usually. More often than not. And it certainly seems to be the case here."

It was true. Luckily, Fury was combing through the extensive S.H.I.E.L.D. files, both paper and digital, helping with the search. And good thing too, for that was where they ultimately found their answer.

"This is an old S.S.R. report - Strategic Scientific Reserve, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s predecessor. It says here that the piece of staff was hunted down and located by agents of H.Y.D.R.A., the Nazi deep science division," Fury read off of a computer file of a scanned document. "This was in 1943. They were pretty obsessed with old, supposedly powerful relics.

"Oh no, not Nazis."

"Yeah..." Fury scanned the page. "Well, looks like the staff, or piece of it rather, was confiscated during a final confrontation between the Nazis and Soviets towards the end of the war. But it was destroyed."

"Oh, good." Good that it was out of Nazi hands. "Wait, did you say _destroyed_?"

"Afraid so."

"Oh..." Not so good... "So, now what?" But everyone was wondering the same. Nora felt her heart sink.

"I don't have a damn clue," said Fury, speaking for all of them.

"Maybe you don't need the staff," Carol ventured. "I mean, you're doing really well with keeping your powers controlled without it." She took Nora's hand to emphasize her point and gave it an equally comforting and reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah, maybe, but we've come this far... Damn it. Lost is one thing, but destroyed is another." Quite another. She literally had no clue what to do next.

She took the two pieces they had, examining them together. They had both ends of the staff, like long batons in her hands, and were just missing the middle section to hold the two together and complete the staff.

"Hang on - Carol, do you still have that hologram of the full staff you originally showed me?"

"Yeah, sure." With a mere swipe of her fingers across her arm, Carol had pulled the image up. It was mostly just an outline, not detailed, but it showed the staff as a whole, and that counted for something.

"Hmm." Nora leaned in close to examine it. "And it bears these glyphs, like the ones Mum drew in that file." A smirk was crawling up her lips, one to rival Carol's famous one. "I think I may have a solution."

"Ooo, I like that look." Now Carol smirked too. They met smirks and Nora blushed.

"What have you got?" asked Fury.

"Well, Director Fury, as you may recall, we met under rather particular circumstances where I had managed to forge a pretty damn good replication of an agent ID badge, if I do say so myself. And then you caught me selling forged coins on the black market..."

"You think you can forge the staff?"

"Yes, the piece of it that's missing. Look, the glyphs on the pieces we do have seem to follow a certain pattern across, so I just have to follow that. It's worth a shot, seeing as we don't have access to the last piece."

"Sounds like a plan, Doc," said Carol. "I'm in."

"Oh, no," sighed Fury.

"Oh, come on, Director! It's just some light forgery!" Nora cracked her knuckles. "Stand back, folks. I'm about to work my magic - no pun intended."

* * *

"What you're doing is so cool," Carol said as she peered over Nora's shoulder while she worked. Her presence behind Nora was both comforting and intimidating.

"Says literally the coolest person I've ever met." Nora could feel Carol smirking behind her in response to her words, but dared herself not to look, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to focus if she did. And she needed to focus.

"I just hope this works." Because if it didn't, and her efforts proved well-intentioned but useless, she had no idea what they were going to do. What _she _was going to do.

The first step was to sketch out the whole staff, following the pattern of glyphs at each end through the middle as well. Then, do a larger sketch of just the middle piece, and then 3D print it, and _voila!_ The staff would be whole and complete. Well, hopefully.

"I've been meaning to ask you - where do you sleep?" Carol looked at her. "Okay, that sounded a bit weird. Do you sleep on your ship?" She had long wondered where Carol went when they weren't together, and just assumed that she stayed on her ship.

Carol nodded. "Yeah, it's my home. I'm usually moving around so much, so that makes it difficult to settle down anywhere. So it's helpful to have a 'house' that can travel along with me."

"Yeah, makes sense. While you're here, if you want, I have a whole spare bedroom, Mum and Dad's old room, just sitting there unused. You can stay there if you like. I'm not sure what your living space is like aboard your ship. No pressure or anything, just so you know you have options."

Carol grinned. "I might take you up on that. Thanks Doc."

"I won't even make you pay rent," Nora joked. "It can be my repaying you for all you've done for me, to help me."

"As I've said, my pleasure. And you've more than 'repaid' me." Carol winked and for a moment, Nora forgot where she was, what she was doing, and even who she was. The hum of the 3D printer was what brought her back to reality. Oh yes, that.

"So, what now?" Carol asked after a moment of them both standing silently listening to the machine work.

"We let it do it's thing. It's going to take a while, so we don't have to stand here waiting."

"What would you like to do while we wait?"

"Well, I suppose we could continue searching the database for - oh..." There had been a hinting in Carol's voice that she hadn't caught onto right away. _Way to go, Nora. Very smooth. _

Carol smirked. That damn smirk! "Well, I mean, researching does sound like fun..."

"Oh no, forget I said anything. What were you going to say?"

"I wasn't going to say anything." Carol kissed her.

Now that was smooth. How was Carol so good at this? She may never find out, and honestly, she didn't mind.

_SO MANY READS! Thank you so, so much for all the reads, that's truly amazing! :D Thank you to you all who continue to show love and support for this story, it makes me so happy! :)_

_I'm very sorry for such a long wait, but school was super busy and I was having major writer's block. But I'm finished school now and am feeling inspired (yay!) so hopefully it continues! ;)_

_Thank you so much for reading - and for sticking with me despite the long wait - and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	25. More Questions, More Answers

24 ~ More Questions, More Answers

"So, how was your first night in the Bane house?" Nora asked the next morning when she came down to the kitchen. Carol was already up, of course , always the early riser.

"Good thanks. It's been a long time since I've slept in an actual bed, and not just the cot on my ship." Carol held up a notebook that had been sitting on the counter beside her. "I found this."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, in your parents' room. I'm thinking it might have been tucked under the mattress or something, cause when I moved around it fell to the floor. I had to dig it out from under the bed."

Nora took the book from her. "So they must have been trying to hide it."

"That's what I'm thinking too."

With closer examination, Nora realized she recognized the book - Jenny's journal. "This is Mum's journal. I used to see her writing in it, all the time actually. Wonder why she'd try to hide it..." Hiding it suggested it was important, and contained sensitive information. Also, if this were the case, why wouldn't Jenny have taken it along with her on the fated expedition?

1991 was the year this book was started - also the year Nora was born. This entry took place seven months before she was born. A name she recognized, but hadn't thought of until now, caught her eye: Bridget.

Dr. Bridget Turner had been her parents' work partner early on in their career, before they had parted ways. Harry, Jenny, and Bridget had kept in touch as far as Nora knew.

"What is it?" asked Carol.

"I think I may have a lead."

* * *

"Would you like me to go with you?" Carol asked.

"Thanks, but I think I've got to do this on my own," Nora replied. Carol understood, of course. This was a deeply personal matter, after all.

"Nora, what about the staff?"

Right, the 3D print of the final, missing piece would be finished by now - ready to see if it would fit together with the other pieces.

But the staff and her powers were new - this information about her parents was eleven years in the making.

* * *

Nora stood in front of the British Museum, where Dr. Turner worked, Jenny's journal tucked against her chest. Time to get some answers - or so she hoped.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Dr. Bridget Turner," she told the receptionist.

"Is Dr. Turner expecting you."

"No. But if you tell her Harry and Jenny Bane's daughter is looking for her, I think she'll understand."

She was right - mere minutes after the receptionist called Dr. Turner's office, Bridget herself appeared, appearing shocked.

"Elenanora Bane, I'll be damned. Look at you. How are you?"

"I'm doing all right, all things considered. Yourself?"

"Oh, good. Busy. I'm so sorry about your parents."

"Thanks."

"What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping to talk with you, actually. About your work with my parents. It's fairly urgent."

Minutes later found them seated in the museum cafe. Nora slid the logbook/journal across the table towards Bridget. "I found this, it's Mum's journal. It starts in '91, back when you three were still working together - and the year I was born."

"Yes, I remember it. Remember seeing Jenny scribble away."

"It says here you were in the Mediterranean investigating what was supposedly an ancient Witches tomb - I mean, you've got to be shitting me, right? Witches? I mean, come on."

But Bridget remained serious. "Yes, it was an extensive investigation. As you know, your parents were obsessed with potentially magical artifacts-"

"I knew they were interested in them, but not 'obsessed.'"

"They were, definitely. I had my doubts about this project-"

"Yeah, no kidding." Witches, seriously?

But, this did add up with the staff holding cosmic magic.

"-But they were dead serious about it. Your Mum was pregnant with you at the time, so she probably shouldn't have even been doing the job."

Well, based on how they had just up and left Nora years later, it was like Jenny to risk her pregnancy like that.

"Turns out, it was a bad idea, overall."

"How do you mean?"

"When we finally excavated enough and reached the tomb, there was a blast that came from it."

"A blast?"

"Yes, all this pink light and fog..."

Pink light - just like her newfound power. This was all adding up...

"Your parents got caught up in it, but amazingly were not harmed. In fact, they seemed completely unaffected."

"What was the blast, then?"

Bridget shrugged. "We have no idea. Still, to this day. But, since it was a witch's tomb, we have our speculations that it could be magical."

"Bloody hell..." Nora shook her head - both from how this was all connecting and from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

"I know, it's a lot. But I hope it helped."

Nora was distant. "Yes, thank you. It really helped..."

"Here, come with me back to my office. I have something for you."

Nora followed Bridget to her office in a daze.

"I can dig through my old notes from that expedition and see what I can find for you."

"Thanks."

"Here." Bridget handed her another notebook, which she had dug out of the bottom drawer of her desk, very similar to Jenny's book.

"What's this?"

"Your mum's journal."

"But I found her journal." Nora held up said book.

"That was from earlier on. I have her work journal from later on in their career."

"Around the time they disappeared?"

Bridget nodded. "Yes." She held it out. "Take it. She would have wanted you to have it."

"Oh, I'm not sure..."

"She would have. Now take it."

"Thank you, so much. This really helped clear things up."

"I'm glad, you're welcome."

Nora looked down at the notebook. "Wait, so would this have answers in it as to where they were going before they disappeared?"

"Maybe. I think it's a good place to start."

Now Nora was even more overwhelmed. "But why did you have it?"

"They were getting nervous, suspicious about the people they were working with-" S.H.I.E.L.D., as Nora now knew. "-That's why your mum gave it to me, for safekeeping. They didn't trust the rest of the team. I knew it must have been very important. I would be careful with the information inside, if I were you."

Nora was nodding, but barely registered that she was doing so.

Bridget continued. "This is a very personal matter, so it's not my place to tell you. I think your parents should tell you themselves."

"But they can't."

"They can." Bridget tapped the cover of the journal. "In here. I think you'll find a lot of answers in here."

The prospect of that was both equally intriguing and terrifying all at once.

_Wow, I'm absolutely blown away by how many reads this story has gotten! :D Thank you so, so much! _

_ So sorry for the delay, I've been focusing on my other stories lately. But finally, here's another chapter! _

_Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story and I hope you enjoyed this (late) chapter! :)_


	26. Uncertainties

25 ~ Uncertainties

Nora sat on a bench outside the museum, both journals in her lap, the one from Bridget on top, Jenny's work journal. This one held all the secrets, she could just tell.

Like with the S.H.I.E.L.D. file back in D.C., Nora couldn't find it within herself to look, to open the damn book and read what was inside. Oh, the potential it held. It was like she was frozen.

In the end, she couldn't bring herself to open and look at it, no matter how hard she tried. Not there and then. She wasn't prepared then. She hoped she would be more prepared later.

"How'd it go?" Carol asked when Nora arrived back home.

"Good..."

"Nora?" She must have looked slightly shell-shocked because Carol noticed right away that something was off.

Nora held up the journal. "Bridget was really helpful. Mum gave Bridget her work journal for safekeeping. She thinks it might have information from around the time they went missing."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah, 'wow' is right."

"Did you look at it?"

"No, I couldn't, not yet." It was funny; she had been searching for answers for so long and now, when they were potentially right in front of her, right within her grasp, she couldn't bear to look. "I need to talk to Fury."

She called the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Is this call secure?" she asked as soon as he answered.

_"Yes, it is."_

"How secure?"

_"As secure as secure can be. What's up, Bane?"_

She launched into her story. "I met with my parents' former colleague, and she told me that when my parents were working with S.H.I.E.L.D., they were nervous working around the personnel. You should be careful, Nick, about who you're working with."

_"Anything that seems off goes through me."_

_"Okay, good. Just keep a close eye on everyone around you."_

_"I always do. You okay? You seem really paranoid."_

"Yeah, maybe I am."

* * *

A week later, and Nora still couldn't bring herself to read the journal. It just sat there, on the table, in plain sight, taunting her with its closeness and potential. It was incredibly frustrating, but still, something held her back.

No, not _something_. She knew exactly what: the fear of what she would come across, of what she would read on those pages in her mother's handwriting, of what truths it would surface. She wasn't sure she was ready to face that - or ever would be ready. She was beginning to think she never would be.

On top of that, Carol seemed a little more distant all of the sudden. She kept leaving for extended periods of time on 'business' as she said, but Nora had a strange suspicious feeling that wasn't quite it. Carol wasn't telling her something. And why was she suddenly acting so withdrawn?

"So," Nora said once Carol had returned from yet another 'business' trip. "You've taken me on a space date, and so now I want to take you on an Earth date."

Carol surprised her by sighing heavily. "Listen, Nora, I've been thinking... You're dealing with a lot right now. A lot of very personal stuff. Before we go any further I think you should take some time for yourself, before jumping into anything with me, or with anyone else." Nora was silent, so she continued. The blonde sighed again. "I'm just wondering if we're kind of rushing into this..." She let that linger and settle.

"Okay..." Finally, Nora found her words again. "I mean, I have very little dating and relationship experience, but I know that this isn't a good sign... Especially not after we've been, well, more _intimate _ lately..." There was a long pause. "I was that bad, huh?"

Carol scoffed. "No, Nora. That's not what this is about."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. It has nothing to do with that."

"Okay then..."

"I'm just not sure jumping into a serious relationship is what you need right now, on top of everything else."

"You don't know what I need." A pause. Nora's voice was softer when she spoke next. "I thought things were going well."

"They were."

"I would even say really well."

"They were, and I like you, Nora, I really do. But I'm just not sure if I can commit to something like this. What I mean is, you know how my job is, how my whole life is: it's unpredictable, and most of the time I'm in a completely separate solar system. I'm gone so often. It wouldn't be fair to you. Also, it's dangerous, I've made a lot of enemies. Powerful enemies. I don't want to put you in danger."

"I could always come to space."

"Trust me, you don't want to do that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's too dangerous. You saw what happened last time on your first visit. You almost died!"

"Well, having you here whenever you can be here is better than not having you at all."

Carol sighed. "Nora-"

"If you don't want to then just say so, no need to make excuses." There was more of an edge to her tone than she thought.

"I said, it's not that I don't want to-"

"You just don't want to."

"If you'd let me finish-"

"I've heard enough, I think. I get it. It's nothing new. You're just another person in a long line who don't want to commit to me. But if my own bloody parents didn't want to, then I guess I shouldn't assume that of anyone else. Even they kept leaving, going more and more often until one day, they just didn't come back. Left on 'business,' like you said." She scoffed. "Bullshit."

"The first time was for business. But the others were for myself."

"To get away from me? Like they did?"

"No, Nora. Of course not. I needed to take time for myself. My job puts a big strain on me. And like I said, I think you need to take some time for yourself too. Think about you and your parents, your family. A lot of personal stuff is being stirred up, and you should focus on that. I'm sorry, Nora, I really am. But I think, right now, it's for the best." Nora said nothing; she had turned away so she had her back to Carol. "It's hard for me to say goodbye, too."

"But you're not saying goodbye! You're just leaving, like they did!" Her voice was a near shout. "Please, don't go. Don't leave me too."

Carol gave her a sad smile. "You're magic, Nora. Never forget that." And just like that, her Space-girl was gone.

_Aww :.( I hate torturing Nora like this... If you're following along with my 'Endgame' story too it'll all make sense now._

_Carol telling Nora to take some time for herself was inspired by Jim's line to Freddie in Bohemian Rhapsody: 'Come and find me when you like yourself'. (Just re-watched that movie!)_

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	27. The Truth

26 ~ The Truth

Nora probably stood there in the middle of the kitchen for a solid ten minutes before moving.

Carol was gone.

Gone.

She had left. Just like that.

Just like that.

Nora felt like absolute shit.

_"You're magic, Nora. Never forget that."_

Bullshit.

The next thing Nora knew she was on the floor, her body wracked by heavy sobbing. Her head spun, her whole body shook.

What had just happened?

Why? And why so suddenly.

She felt abandoned, by everyone.

The next thing she knew she had picked up her mother's journal and had launched it across the room, the book striking the wall and then landing open on the floor with a_ thud!, _some of the pages bending.

A quivering yell ripped through the room when she threw the journal, making her ears ring - had that devastated sound really come from her mouth? Had that really been her voice that sounded so broken, broken beyond recognition?

She didn't recognize herself in this alarming state. But, then again, she hadn't really been recognizing herself at all lately, ever since these space-magic powers had made their appearance.

And had completely screwed up her life.

She stormed over to the journal laying sprawled out there on the rug, ready and intending to throw it again, when it registered with her that the book was open.

Open for the first time since she had gained possession of it. Open and ready to share its secrets.

But was she herself ready?

Honestly, the way she was feeling right now, she thought, _Bring it on. What else have I got to lose? _Also, she might as well just get it all over with.

She scooped it up and plopped down on the couch and focused in on her mother's handwriting. Damn, this was already incredibly personal.

She flipped through until she reached the entries baring the year 1991, the year of her birth. _Lets start at the beginning... _Even before the beginning, at least, before her own beginning.

_Baby was kicking today - must be as excited about this expedition as we are! I can't wait to bring them along to sites when they're older!_

_People keep telling me it's a bad idea to continue field work in my condition - Harry especially keeps fussing, sweetheart. I know I probably shouldn't, but I'm determined to see this expedition through before taking my maternity leave._

_Thanks, Mum, _she thought sarcastically.

_This has all gone very wrong. Now I know I should have listened to everyone who told me it was a bad idea._

_We found the witch's tomb, but we caused something - disturbed some magic that had been lying dormant._

_Surprisingly, we are all unhurt - or so we can tell right now. By some miracle, perhaps._

Nora stopped reading and rolled her eyes. This was all what Bridget had told her, so she skipped ahead a few entries, hoping this wasn't just a waste of time.

Baby hasn't been kicking since the blast - I was so afraid. I would never forgive myself if something happened to them.

Nora had to pause and then read that line again. _I would never forgive myself if something happened to them._

_But thank God, they finally kicked again today! I cried I was so happy and relieved! We got the doctor to do a check of the baby and he says all appears well, with me and the baby. As though the blast never happened. It's so strange. Makes me wonder if we imagined the whole thing._

And later...

_Eleanora is perfect! We were so excited to welcome her into the world, into our family. Our sweet little daughter, our Nora._

_Our Nora._

The journal was thick, and the entries were short and scattered. Jenny easily fit many years worth of entries in here.

Skimming through, the next entry was one from when Nora was nine.

_The blast did do something. All those years ago. It didn't affect us, but it affected Nora. Now I'm really wishing I took everyone's advice and stopped field work._

_It seems that she absorbed the residue magic from the blast. It sounds unbelievable even as I write it - I thought I'd heard and seen all the unbelievable. I couldn't have been more wrong._

An entry from the next year, when Nora was ten, continued this.

_Further research suggests that the magic from the witch's tomb had a source, a power source, that it came from somewhere before being accessed by the witch. This must have been thousands of years ago as the witch herself was ancient._

_We've got to help Nora - it was our fault this happened to her in the first place._

She couldn't put the journal down. She was now skimming it at a rapid pace, feeling the truth just within reach.

_I don't feel safe working with S.H.I.E.L.D. - neither does Harry. We think they're onto us and know that we've got an ulterior motive to working on their project: trying to find answers, anything, anything at all, to help Nora._

She flipped the page - the next page was empty. And all the pages after that. This was the final entry, from when she was twelve. From when her parents had disappeared.

_Our search for answers had led us to making an awful decision - we must go away, must leave Nora. S.H.I.E.L.D. is onto us, so leaving and getting ourselves off the grid is best. But that means we must leave our daughter, which is the last thing we wish to do. I hope she can understand someday that we're only doing this because we want to help her and we love her, so much. I can't express that enough._

_I hate the thought of leaving, but it's our fault this happened to her, so it's only fair that we solve the problem. It's the very least we can do for putting her through this._

_I feel like I failed as a mother before I even was a mother - I couldn't even protect her then._

_But I'll do anything to protect her now, even if that means making the hardest decision of my life and leaving her for an unknown amount of time. I love her so much and I hope she realizes that, but I know she does._

_-Jenny Bane, 2003_

That was it, the end of the journal.

Nora's head spun with everything she had just read, trying and failing to absorb it all.

All she could think was, _Oh my God..._

_So I think we're actually nearing the end of this story - I think I know how I'm going to wrap it up!_

_Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed as always! :)_


	28. The Truth Hurts Sometimes

27 ~ The Truth Hurts Sometimes

_Oh my God..._

If she had felt numb when Carol left - she had no way to describe how she felt now. She was utterly speechless.

_Oh, God..._

It felt as though she were being crushed, that this new information, this new truth, had reached inside of her and tore her open, ripping her apart from within.

But, then again, it wasn't really a 'new truth'. It had always been there, had always been the truth, she had just blinded herself from seeing it. So while it felt new, it really wasn't.

She had been living a lie.

_They had been trying to help me._

A lie she herself had constructed in the sadness, loneliness and anger she had felt all these years. She had felt abandoned, only she hadn't been, had never been.

But she hadn't understood the situation until now. And even then, she still didn't fully understand it.

And neither had they, Jenny and Harry. That's why they had been trying so hard to find answers, and help her. That was why they had gone to such lengths.

_They had been trying to help me..._

All this time... For years she had warped them into these selfish villains who had abandoned her when they had been the total opposite: selfless parents striving their hardest to help their daughter, feeling guilty and responsible for what had happened to her.

_I hated them._

_I couldn't stand the thought of them._

_But they loved me. They cared for me._

And of course they had - they were her Mum and Dad, after all.

Everything they had done had been for her, had been to try and help her out of the troubling situation they felt they had gotten her into. Her mother's words had sounded so guilty, so apologetic.

They had even left behind their beloved work in favour of trying their hardest to help her. If they had abandoned anything, it had been their work, not their daughter.

Of course they had - she was their daughter, and they loved her.

They loved her.

And they were gone, still gone, and she wanted them here more than anything there in that moment.

It was devastating. All this time she had been painting them as these cruel villains when she had really been the villain, thinking and believing such awful things about them. God, how she wished they were here now so she could apologize to them.

_I love her so much and I hope she realizes that, but I know she does, _Jenny had written, finishing off her entry with these words, the final words of her journal. The final words before she left.

Well, Nora had failed them, in more ways than one.

She was crying again - she hadn't even realized she had started to again.

She felt sick, sick with herself. She instantly regretted any and every ill thought she had ever had or ever considered about her parents.

She had been wrong, so wrong. So, so very wrong.

She thought back to what she had told Carol:

_ "You're just another person in a long line who don't want to commit to me. But if my own bloody parents didn't want to, then I guess I shouldn't assume that of anyone else. Even they kept leaving, going more and more often until one day, they just didn't come back... To get away from me? Like they did?... You're just leaving, like they did!"_

Recalling them now, she felt utterly ashamed for those words.

_What have I done?_

_Oh Mum, oh Dad..._

_I'm so sorry. So sorry I ever doubted you. _

"They were trying to help me..." Saying the words out loud only increased their already crushing weight.

The realization hung over her like a dark storm cloud that wouldn't go away, affecting only her.

She had been wrong this whole time. So very wrong. She couldn't have been more wrong.

She spoke the next words aloud as well. "What have I done?"

* * *

When she called Fury, she must have sounded distraught, for some hours later he had turned up in one of his fancy S.H.I.E.L.D. jets.

She told him everything - her mother's journal, Carol leaving so suddenly, the answers, the truth.

The crushing truth.

"They were trying to help me... They were searching for answers."

A long silence followed her story - a tragedy by all accounts, that just seemed to become more and more tragic as it went - as Fury took in all she had told him, all that had been revealed.

"They didn't feel safe working with S.H.I.E.L.D., Mum said so. Your agents drove them away!" She suddenly lashed out. "Sorry..."

"Don't be. You've received a great shock."

She scoffed. "You're damn right about that." She willed herself not to burst into tears again. "I'm such a bitch."

"You didn't know."

"And now they're gone, and Carol's gone. And it's my fault. It's all my fault. Not in the way or for the reason I originally thought, but it's still my fault."

She never got to see what he was reaching for in his pocket as she was already shaking her head, but she knew what he was suggesting: he had a way of contacting Carol. "No, she said only in an emergency. I've gone and blown it, once again."

"What are you going to do now?" He asked after giving her some time to think about it.

"Good question. I've made a real mess of things."

Although she hated to admit it - because she was still in shock and angry and in denial that Carol was gone - Carol had been right about one thing: Nora did have a lot to figure out.

_Aw, poor Nora is really having a rough time here! But she will resolve it all!_

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as always! :)_


	29. More Magic

28 ~ More Magic

There was no stopping her from reading the journal now. She had already uncovered the extent of its deep, dark secrets. What more harm could it cause? She hoped nothing more.

She made herself sit down and read it, slowly, taking in everything and every little detail, even re-reading sections if she felt the need to do so.

Since she had been frantically skimming most of the final entries of the journal before, during her first fateful read, she had missed a lot of information, hadn't fully registered it.

She had actually missed quite a lot in her first initial skim through of the entries, so reading it though again a second time - at least twice, sometimes more - was beneficial, as she soon discovered.

In the entry timeline, she was now eleven - the year before her parents disappeared.

In this entry, her mother spoke of visiting someone called the Ancient One here in London, at somewhere called a sanctum. It was almost as though Jenny had written this somehow knowing Nora would need to know it later. Her mother was still helping her from wherever she was.

A quick internet search gave her the exact address.

Her next stop was the London Sanctum. She had no idea of what she would find there, but at least she knew where she had to go.

* * *

The Sanctum was just an old building at the centre of a street, easy to miss. There was no sign outside reading LONDON SANCTUM or anything. Maybe they didn't want just anyone popping in.

Nora checked the address again, which she had written down, for good measure before heading up the front steps of the building. Here it was.

The door opened before she even had the chance to knock. "Oh - um, hello, I'm looking for the-" But no one was there. She was speaking to an empty hall. But then who had opened the door for her? She had thought someone had seen her out front. How had it opened?

"Hello?" she called, her own voice echoing back to her as though she were calling into a vast cavern, not a hallway.

"Come on in, Eleanora Bane. I've been expecting you."

She jumped at the sudden voice, whirling around to find its source.

A bald woman in long, golden-yellow robes sat at a small round table which had a tea set arranged for two atop it. The woman sipped from her teacup and smiled at her guest. "Welcome."

Nora stared back, utterly confused. "How did you-" She broke off, trying to figure it out - the woman hadn't been sitting there just moments ago when her eyes had swept the room, and neither had the table or tea set.

What was going on here? She was getting strange vibes from this place. Maybe coming here had been a mistake...

The woman waved her over. "Come, sit. Tea?"

"Um..." Nora wasn't so sure. The woman was already pouring the tea and so she sat down slowly and cautiously. "You were expecting me?"

"Yes, I knew you were coming."

"Dare I ask how?"

The woman grinned. "If I told you magic, how would you respond?"

"I wouldn't think you're totally crazy." The woman chuckled at this. "I'm Nora, but I guess you already know that. Who are you?"

"I am the Ancient One."

"Okay."

"Master of the Mystic Arts."

"Okay..."

"You're here about your parents' visit, many years ago."

"Okay, now you're starting to freak me out..."

"I am correct though, yes?"

"Yeah..."

"And now here you are."

"Yeah..."

"Continuing in their search."

"My parents came here searching for answers as to what happened to me."

"What happened to you?"

"I-I don't know... Well, I mean, I kind of do now. I know more now than I did before, but I'm still miles away from understanding it."

"Some things we don't end up understanding. Some things are better left not understood."

"Um, thanks for the wisdom..."

"But that is what you came for, yes?"

"They came here searching for answers. About this." Nora held up a hand, displaying the pink energy of the space-magic.

"Ah, yes. The ancient powers. Answers to which I, unfortunately, couldn't give them."

"Oh..."

"Yes. They came here desperately searching for any form of hope. But, I'm afraid, the magic you know and the magic I know are entirely different."

"I wouldn't say I 'know it', necessarily, but..."

"But, I'm always happy to talk about magic, any kind that is." The Ancient One smiled. "But that was what _they _came to me in search of. What brings _you _here, Eleanora Bane."

"Nora is just fine, really... Um, well, I came for the same reason-"

"But did you?"

"Um, yeah, I mean I think so. Though you now have me questioning that..."

Before she could continue, the Ancient One, now on her feet, struck Nora in the shoulder and when she looked down she saw her own body behind her, her own self transparent though glowing a deep pink colour.

"Gah - what the bloody hell did you do?!"

"I removed your astral form from your physical form. See, look at your aura: it's fuchsia. You have pure magic running through your veins, and have since before you were born."

"So something within me has been lying dormant? Until now, it would seem..."

"Yes, it would seem so. You are magic, Eleanora Bane."

The same as Carol had said to her before she left, her final words to Nora. "I'm sorry?"

Suddenly, she was back in her body - her astral and physical forms reunited. That had been extremely weird.

The table and tea set were gone. The Ancient One smiled at her. "Oh, and I would recommend tending to that staff of yours - I think it will prove very helpful."

"Right..." Nora's eyes didn't leave her host until she made herself look away. "Well, thanks anyways then... Thanks for the tea."

"Goodbye, Eleanora Bane."

"Bye - Ancient One."

The Ancient One watched as the young woman left the sanctum. With a little nudge from some magic, the door closed behind her with an echoing _bang!_

She didn't feel the need to mention to Miss Bane that she had an apprentice back in Nepal, Master Ekaterina, who looked almost identical to her.

_More connections to my other Marvel stories! ;) Love the interconnectedness of this whole universe! It was all so cleverly done in the movies! _

_Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	30. Tomb Raider

29 ~ Tomb Raider

With everything that had happened lately - finding the journal, speaking with Bridget, losing Carol, discovering the truth of her parents leaving and about how wrong she had been about them - she had completely forgotten about the staff.

_Thank you for the reminder, Ancient One._

She still wasn't completely certain about what had happened there at the London Sanctum. She kept looking at herself as though she suspected her astral and physical forms to separate again suddenly. But they didn't, thank goodness. That had just been weird.

This mission, if that's what you wanted to call it, regarding her powers had always been about her discovering where her powers came from, what her parents were doing (investigating witches tombs and magical objects). Now that she had figured that out - there was still a lot of digging around to do there, and unanswered questions, but at least she had a more firm idea - she could now focus on finding out what happened to them to make them disappear.

She could focus on that, as well as focusing on herself and her powers.

If she figured out what happened to them while they had been trying to help her, then she would in turn be helping herself, like they had wanted to, had been trying to do. Like Carol said she needed to.

Carol had left her old suit here, hadn't taken it with her. Nora wondered if she had forgotten it, but then settled on that Carol had probably been aware she was leaving it, and was doing so for a purpose.

After fiddling around with the gauntlets for a while, Nora managed to figure out how to change the suit's colours - she spent a long time just sliding her finger along the gauntlet's screen, watching the suit flash an intricate rainbow before her eyes. Instead of red, blue and gold, she eventually settled on red, fuchsia and silver. She even removed the gold star from the front of the suit and decided that with her 3D printer she could create a silver design of one of the glyphs on the staff.

All suited up, she took up her weapon.

_You are magic. _Carol had said it.

_You are magic. _The Ancient one had said it.

And, somewhere deep inside, she believed her parents believed it too. They had never stopped believing in her, even when they were gone and she had stopped believing in them.

But did she herself believe it?

"You are magic," she whispered.

Maybe not yet, or at least not fully, but eventually, she might just believe it too.

"You are magic..."

She pushed all the furniture in the living room out of the way, creating some empty space for herself. She proceeded to practice with the staff, swinging it around, feeling the connection between herself and it, as well as the warm glow from their powers at last making contact.

"Ha, piece of cake," she said softly with a faint chuckle, after a good few times of swinging the staff smoothly around in a sequence. It was light and well-balanced in her hands, like it had been made for her, like they were, well, meant for each other. They really did share a connection.

Despite the staff's lightness, she could tell that if you got hit with it, it would hurt _a lot_.

"Ouch!" She spoke too soon - or, well, thought too soon. The next twirl she missed catching, and the edge of the staff came down and bonked her on the head. Okay, maybe not such a piece of cake, after all. Not yet, anyways.

"Hope you didn't make a special trip just for me," she told Fury when he arrived.

"Naw, was in Belfast with an old contact. But you'd be worth the trip."

"Ha, thanks."

She told him about the staff.

"What are you going to do now?"

She shrugged. "Good question. Some mates from the museum have been trying to get me to join their internship program for a long time, so I might look into that. It's something, for now."

"You know, we're always accepting applications."

She chuckled. "Yeah, thanks for the offer, but no. I don't think there's a place for me in your swanky secret society."

"Security and intelligence division."

"Whatever."

"We could set you up in one of our London offices."

"I'll think about it."

"Okay, cool. Keep in touch, yeah?"

"Yeah. Thank you again, Director Fury. For everything, really."

He nodded. "You're welcome, Nora."

She heaved a sigh. "This isn't over yet. I found out what happened to me, but I still have to find out what happened to my parents. They were trying to help me, and I want to try and help them. What have I got to lose?"

_This feels like a good place to end but there is one chapter left! :) I wanted to end things on more of a cliffhanger! ;)_

_Thank you so much for reading and, once again, I hope you enjoyed! :) See you all in the final chapter!_


	31. Clones?

30 ~ Clones?

Back in Washington D.C. at the Triskellion, Fury called Hill into his office.

"Hill, I want to start a new file on Bane."

Hill nodded. "Let me guess, this doesn't have to do with her powers or her breaking into the facility, does it?"

"You're right."

"I was speaking with Agent Romanoff, and she might be able to offer some insight on this."

With that, Fury called in Nat.

"Nick, I knew a woman who looked like her - them both," Nat informed, speaking of both Nora and Agent Liv Sword. Fury and Hill stared back at her. "Back in Russia, a fellow Black Widow recruit, Sascha Shostakov."

"How similar?"

"Apart from a different accent exactly the same. Same with this Eleanora Bane. Although she's got a different accent and hair colour. Other than that, all their features are right on point with each other, from height to build."

"So there's at least two others who look like her," Fury observed and confirmed.

"That we know of, yes. At least."

"I've heard of people with likenesses to each other, but not like this," Hill added. "I mean, the first time I saw Ms. Bane I thought Liv had dyed her hair, until I heard her speak. The same happened to Agent 13, she gave a report. She ran into Bane in the elevator, thought she was Liv, was proven wrong."

"That's freaky," said Fury. "What, we dealing with clones now?" Skrulls maybe? No, they impersonated down to the DNA, as Carol had said all those years ago, so that didn't make sense here. No, they were dealing with something different here, something else entirely.

_So this chapter acts as an 'end-credit scene'. It might not make much sense, but if you're reading my 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame' stories and their prequel, 'Before Infinity', you'll know about Sascha and Liv/Karen :) Super confusing, all these look-alikes, I know, but I promise you it will all make sense soon (In Part Three of my 'Endgame' story!) I have big plans for them!_

_And that's the end! Thank you so much for all the reads and comments on this story, it's definitely one of my most popular stories, so thank you! Nora and Carol's story continues in my 'For Eternity' story and will continue in my other Endgame story - I'm also planning for a sequel which will take place after 'Endgame'. _

_Once again, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed overall! :)_


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